Security Threats Rise 22 Percent

Think the threat of natural disaster is on the minds of IT professionals these days? Maybe not, as a new study suggests computer worms, viruses and other security-related threats have increased more than 22 percent this year.

According to an article on the Red Herring website, the study by IDG and PricewaterhouseCoopers found that companies have reported 862 incidents this year, up 22.4 percent from the 704 that occurred during the same period in 2004.

“Companies are trying to do the right thing when it comes to security but many still don’t have a strategic initiative that can tackle the problem,” Mark Lobel, advisory partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, told Red Herring. “Most companies are busy trying to put out everyday security-related threats and fires.”

The survey found that hackers are still being blamed for the greatest number of attacks, but they represented a smaller proportion of security incidents than last year. This year, the threat from insiders has emerged as a significant new problem, with current employees accounting for 33 percent of threats, up from 28 percent last year.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.redherring.com/article.aspx?a=13555