Viral outbreaks became more frequent and expensive last year, according to a study by security testing outfit ICSA Labs released today. Almost one in three (30 per cent) of 300 organisations surveyed by ICSA Labs reported a serious virus outbreak last year, compared to 15 per cent in 2002. ICSA Labs defines a serious virus outbreak (or “virus disaster” as it calls it) as one where 25 or more PCs/servers become infected at the same time by the same virus. Disaster recovery costs increased by 23 per cent in 2003 to reach approximately £55,000 ($100,000) per organisation per virus disaster, according to ICSA Labs’ 9th annual Virus Prevalence Survey. Full Story