Nearly 9 out of 10 organizations were hit with computer-security incidents last year, according to the FBI’s latest Computer Crime Survey, which found that 20 percent of those experiencing attacks had at least 20 of them.
Total losses amounted to $32 million. Viruses and worms cost the most, accounting for $12 million, according to the survey, which is based on responses from more than 2,000 public and private organizations in four states.
The most popular attacks were fueled by viruses (83.7 percent) and spyware (79.5 percent). Further, more than one in five organizations said they experienced malicious port scans and network or data sabotage.
What are the organizations doing to assure the attacks won’t occur in the future? Nearly every respondent said it uses antivirus software, while 9 of 10 use firewalls. On the other hand, few use such advanced security techniques as biometrics (4 percent) and smart cards (7 percent).
Forty-four percent of the respondents reported intrusions from within their own organizations, which suggests they need strong internal controls, the FBI pointed out in its survey.