2007 Computer Crime Survey Shows Losses Jumping After 5-Year Decline

The average annual loss reported by U.S. companies in the 2007 CSI Computer Crime and Security Survey more than doubled, from $168,000 in last year's report to $350,424 in this year's survey, according to the The Computer Security Institute (CSI). This ends a five-year run of lower reported losses.

Financial fraud overtook virus attacks as the source of the greatest financial loss. Virus losses, which had been the leading cause of loss for seven straight years, fell to second place. Another significant cause of loss was system penetration by outsiders.

Additional key findings include:

-- Almost one-fifth of those respondents who suffered one or more kinds of security incident say they'd suffered a "targeted attack," i.e. a malware attack aimed exclusively at their organization or at organizations within a small subset of the general population.

-- Insider abuse of network access or e-mail (such as trafficking in pornography or pirated software) edged out virus incidents as the most prevalent security problem, with 59% and 52% of respondents reporting each respectively.

-- When asked generally whether they'd suffered a security incident, 46% of respondents say yes, down from 53% last year and 56% the year before.

"At a period when experts throughout the industry have been discussing with concern the growing sophistication and stealth of cyber attacks, here we have a couple hundred respondents saying they lost significantly more money last year," says Robert Richardson, CSI director and author of the survey. "There's a strong suggestion in this year's results that mounting threats are beginning to materialize as mounting losses."

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Report: Cybercrime Costs $67.2 Billion A Year

Cybercrime has significant economic impacts and threatens U.S. national security interests. Various studies and experts estimate the direct economic impact from cybercrime to be in the billions of dollars annually. The annual loss due to computer crime was estimated to be $67.2 billion for U.S. organizations, according to a 2005 FBI survey, cited by a recent federal report.

In addition, there is continued concern about the threat that U.S. adversaries, including nation-states and terrorists, pose to our national security, says the report, prepared by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). GAO is the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress.

"For example, intelligence officials have stated that nation-states and terrorists could conduct a coordinated cyber attack to seriously disrupt electric power distribution, air traffic control, and financial sectors. Also, according to FBI testimony, terrorist organizations have used cybercrime to raise money to fund their activities," the GAO says.

Despite the estimated loss of money and information and known threats from adversaries, the precise impact of cybercrime is unknown because it is not always detected and reported, GAO finds.

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