FBI: PC Crime is Common, Costly

If you’ve had some form of computer security incident in the past year,
you’re part of the majority.

According to the FBI’s just released 2005 Computer Crime Survey, 87
percent of respondents reported some form of computer security incident in
the past year.

To add insult to injury, the study found that respondents encountered nearly three different types of security
incidents, each of which occurred multiple times.

Viruses, worms and Trojans topped the list of leading reported security
incidents at nearly 84 percent. Spyware came in second at 79 percent and
port scans came in at 33 percent.

The approximate average dollar cost from
viruses was noted to be nearly $34,000.

By way of comparison, respondents of the
2005 CSI/FBI Computer Crime and Security Survey,
reported an average dollar loss from a security breach was $204,000 in 2004.

The CSI/FBI survey is a different
survey than the FBI Computer Crime Survey with a smaller number of
respondents.

It’s not all doom and gloom though.

This article was first published on InternetNews.com. To read the full article, click here.