60 percent of U.S. businesses hit by cybercrime

A recent Department of Justice survey indicated that nearly 60 percent of American businesses have detected one or more cyberattacks.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2005 (the latest year studied), nearly 75 percent of businesses victimised by cybertheft said that insiders, such as employees, contractors or vendors working for the business, were responsible for the crimes.

The survey, dubbed the National Computer Security Survey (NCSS), also revealed that 11 percent of the respondents detected actual losses from cyberthefts and that 24 percent had identified computer-related security incidents.

Survey respondents represented 7,818 businesses of the 7.3 million businesses identified nationwide. The data collection was conducted over a seven-month period in 2006.

Though the NCSS reported that computer viruses were the most common type of cyberattack -- detected by 52 percent of reporting businesses in 2005 -- malware that steals corporate data is a bigger risk today, Ophir Shalitin, director of marketing for Finjan told SCMagazineUS.com on Thursday.

“Viruses mainly cause loss of productivity while recent cyberattacks are typically more advanced and stealthy in nature -- such as trojans,” Shalitin said.

Shatlitin added that breached organizations do not always know they have been compromised.

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