The FBI has found that 90% of the more than 2,000 public and private organizations interviewed for its 2005 Computer Crime Survey had experienced computer security incidents during the year.
The study of cybercrime, among the largest conducted by the FBI, found widespread evidence of criminal online behavior targeting U.S. organizations. Among those surveyed:
* 83% had detected viruses.
* 79% had encountered spyware.
* 20% said their network had been scanned or had data sabotaged.
* 44% said they were attacked from within their organization.
* 64% incurred a financial loss in 2005.
The FBI's estimate for total losses for the companies surveyed: approximately $32 million. Of that, virus and worm attacks were blamed for $12 million of the total.
According to the FBI, the expanded survey was designed to represent a broader spectrum of companies than its annual survey conducted with the Computer Security Institute (CSI), which was released in July 2005. The CSI/FBI survey of 700 U.S. corporations, government agencies, and financial and medical institutions indicated that computer network attacks and losses from attacks were down in 2005.
According to an FBI statement, even though organizations are becoming more vigilant about computer security risks, only 90% of organizations that experienced attacks reported them to law enforcement.
