Cyber attacks are costing enterprises an average of $2 million (R15.4 million) a year.
Symantec's 2010 State of Enterprise Security study found that 75% of organisations globally experienced cyber attacks in the past 12 months. The study is based on surveys of 2 100 enterprise CIOs, chief information security officers, and IT managers from 27 countries.
According to Symantec's study, 29% of enterprises claim attacks have increased in the past year, and every one of those companies had losses in financial and personal information as well as theft of intellectual property.
“Protecting information today is more challenging than ever,” says Grant Brown, Symantec security specialist.
“By putting in place a security blueprint that protects their infrastructure and information, enforces IT policies, and manages systems more efficiently, businesses can increase their competitive edge in today's information-driven world.”
Top concern
Symantec adds that security is becoming more difficult due to understaffing, new IT initiatives that intensify security issues, and IT compliance concerns.
According to the eCrime Web site, spearheaded by ISG Africa, cyber crime is increasing significantly. The South African government had suffered R400 million in known losses to cyber crime at the end of 2008.
The Verizon data breach report, published last year, found that of 285 million records compromised in 90 network breaches, 91% of the attacks were linked to organised crime. The report says: “The big money is now in stealing personal identification number information, together with associated credit and debit accounts.”
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