A survey conducted by the Computer Security Institute discovered that cyber attacks seeking to break through computer networks or disturb online services are increasing.
According to NextGov.com, of the 443 survey respondents, 64 percent said they were victims of malware attacks, compared to 50 percent in 2008. Of the survey participants, 8 percent (34 people) worked for the federal government.
The Computer Security Institute noted that the increase of malware infection is likely climbing because attackers are customizing malware to make it more effective in targeted attacks. Twenty-five percent of respondents reported at least some of their security incidents involved targeted attacks. Four percent stated they’ve encountered more than 10 such penetrations.
Additionally, 34 percent said they were falsely represented as senders in phishing messages that misled recipients into installing malicious software by clicking a link or downloading an attachment.
Compared to 9 percent in 2008, 17 percent of respondents cited problems of “password sniffing” from computer network traffic. The percentage (14 percent) of respondents who revealed hackers defaced their Web sites more than doubled from last year. Further, 29 percent reported denial-of-service attacks.
Less than half of the respondents – 43 percent and 46 percent respectively – reported changing the organization’s security policies or providing additional training to the end users, the survey reported.
For additional information, click here.
