Global cyber attacks on the rise
In the last 12 months, 75 per cent of businesses worldwide have experienced a “cyber-attack”, according to a survey published today by the security specialist Symantec.
The survey, one of the biggest of its kind, was conducted in January among 2,100 enterprise chief information officers and IT managers from 27 countries.
According to the survey, 42 per cent of businesses now rate cyber crime as the greatest threat to their well-being, more than natural disaster, terrorism and traditional crime combined. The average cost associated with an attack is put at $2 million.
Furthermore, every single company surveyed had experienced some form of cyber loss in the previous 12 months, ranging from a full-blown attack to the loss of data by employees.
“Similar surveys we have conducted have not reproduced such high levels of people experiencing the crime,” Mike Jones of Symantec said, “and the cost associated seems to be rising generally.
“This is partly because companies are becoming more aware of the threat posed by cyber-crime and partly because the threat is rising at a rapid rate.”
In the survey, 29 per cent of companies reported a rise in cyber attacks.
“The results seemed pretty consistent worldwide, suggesting that such attacks have really gone global,” Mr Jones said.
Enterprise security, he noted, is becoming more difficult to manage for a number of reasons. Firstly, the recession has contributed to a cutback in manpower, leaving many companies’ IT security departments understaffed.
Secondly, the growing use of connected technology by employees means that corporate data is increasingly being downloaded and stored on private devices.
“Employees have the expectation that their own devices will be able to connect to work networks,” Mr Jones said. “This can lead to a confusion as to which data belongs to the company and which to the employee. This can be damaging if the employee leaves a job.”
The report also notes that many enterprises are embarking on new initiatives that make providing security more difficult, such as outsourcing of storage or software services.
Online security has been one of the year’s hot topics so far, ever since the internet search giant Google fell victim to what it claimed was a co-ordinated cyber-attack from China last month.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, David DeWalt of internet security company McAfee said: “There are bad guys out there to get you, as never before.”
Content courtesy of The Times
https://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article7035997.ece
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