Complacency is IT security's worst enemy

Despite the fact that 77 percent of global companies have suffered an attack from malicious hackers, companies are still complacent about the security issue. A new report issued by Datamonitor found that although 69 percent of companies do not feel that they are at risk of being the victim of a specific and targeted attack, more than 77 percent reported that they had fallen victim to a worm or a virus. Only 18 percent of those surveyed reported no security breach at all. The report, which was commissioned by software giant Computer Associates, surveyed 55 global companies across all industry sectors, to examine the frequency and impact of various types of attacks, including malicious code. “There’s a real element of complacency at present,” said Simon Perry, vice president of security strategy at Computer Associates. “Businesses feel that attacks are someone else’s problem, and therefore if they’re not a specific target for hackers, they’ll be OK.” However, Perry went on to point out that many businesses are suffering “collateral damage,” being affected indiscriminately by viruses and worms that have no particular target in mind. Full Story