Survey: Cybercrime down, costs up

[InfoSec News <isn () C4I ORG>]

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2001/0312/web-csi-03-13-01.asp

BY Bryant Jordan
03/13/2001

The latest results of an annual survey on computer crime and security
show a drop in the number of computer security breaches to government
and private-sector systems.

In last years survey, 90 percent of survey respondents reported that
they had detected a security breach in the past 12 months. This year,
85 percent reported security breaches.

However, the California organization that conducted the survey with
the cooperation of the FBIs San Francisco office could not say whether
government or the private sector is the greater victim of computer
crime.

"We dont really break down the survey results based on government or
private sector," said Patrice Rapalus, director of the Computer
Security Institute (CSI). "But from 10 years in the business, Id say
its pretty much even."

What is clear is that the cost of computer crime to victims is
carrying a higher price than a year ago, according to highlights of
the survey released Monday.

The complete survey will be released at the end of March, according to
Rapalus, though some findings are available at CSIs Web site.

Among the findings is that 35 percent of the 538 respondents 186
respondents volunteered that they lost a combined $377.8 million last
year through computer crime. The year before, 42 percent, or 249
respondents, owned up to losing a total of $265.5 million in the 12
months prior, according to CSI.

Rapalus said it is difficult to say whether the overall numbers mean
things have gotten better or worse, although Bruce Gebhardt, the head
of the FBIs northern California office, said the results "again
demonstrated the seriousness and complexity of computer crimes."

The vulnerability of conducting business online is a law enforcement
challenge that requires continued cooperation between government and
industry, Gebhardt said in a statement.

Furthermore, Andrew Black, a spokesman for the bureaus San Francisco
office, said governments must follow the same security rules as
businesses do for their sites and networks.

"Unless all employees follow their [computer] security plan, they
become vulnerable," Black said. "We impress on the system
administrator to stay on the employees to follow the security
safeguard plan. That would make our job a lot easier."

[CSI's Web site: http://www.gocsi.com/ ]

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