Government Computers Top Target for Cyberattacks

A new report is suggesting that government agencies are being targeted for cyberattacks more than any other business sector, with 54 million attacks directed at the U.S. government in the first half of 2005 alone.

According to an article by Daniel Pulliam on the GovExec.com website, the report by IBM’s Global Business Security Index Report also found that cyberattacks on computer systems in the government, financial services, manufacturing and health care industries escalated in the first half of 2005, rising by 50 percent.

Pulliam says that in the first half of 2005,"there were more than 237 million security attacks worldwide." However, the report also found that "relatively harmless" attacks like spam or basic viruses declined in that time.

In December 2004, one in every 52 e-mails contained a malicious security threat, Pulliam says, but by January 2005, that jumped to one of every 35 e-mails. By June, one in every 28 e-mails had a malicious security threat.

IBM analysts told Pulliam they believe the majority of cyberattacks now are carried out by criminal gangs.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0805/080505p1.htm