Nearly Half Of Companies Surveyed Suffered Security Breach

FYI...
http://www.securitypipeline.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=16400601&printableArticle=true
November 24, 2003
"Nearly half of the (US) fastest-growing companies suffered a recent breach in information security, according to a survey released Monday by consulting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers...According to the survey, 46 percent of the fast-growing companies polled said they had been the victim of a recent security breach. The vast majority -- 90 percent -- of those breaches were caused by computer viruses or worms, with some companies under attack from multiple vectors, including unauthorized network access (17 percent), denial-of-service (DoS) attacks (13 percent), and wireless intrusion (2 percent). Hackers were cited as the source of 61 percent of the attacks, followed by e-mail at 27 percent. Attacks by unauthorized users and employees, former employees, and competitors, however, accounted for more than 1 out of every 10 attacks. Of those companies which admitted to a security breach, 83 percent reported at least some monetary loss -- ranging from network downtime and lost or damaged customer records to direct financial losses and identity theft. Downtime averaged 1.33 days per employee over the past 12 months..."