IT Security Breaches Hit 80% Of Firms
March 2002
KPMG yesterday published new research showing that 80% of companies have suffered a security incident or breach, such as a virus or hacker attack, in the past year.And the research reveals that such security incidents cost companies an average of 120,000 euros per incident yet most companies are not taking these risks seriously.
KPMG's first global information security survey was based on interviews with 690 companies with turnover in excess of 55m euros. Thirty per cent of companies surveyed have a presence in the Irish market.
Commenting on the survey, Bruce Hopkins, Head of Information Security Services for KPMG Ireland, said: "We find that companies in Ireland are becoming more exposed as the number and severity of attacks increase. In our experience, organisations tend to rely on technology, leaving IT security to the IT team.
"We see it as a business risk, requiring a broader business response, albeit with a strong IT focus," he advised. Mr Hopkins added that the results showed that companies are lacking the ability to measure and report on security performance.
Key findings included the discovery that security breaches are widespread over 80pc of companies surveyed had been the victim of one or more security incidents in the past 12 months.
The average direct loss of all breaches suffered by respondents was almost 120,000 euros.
It also appears that new technology poses new threats 43% of firms were implementing or planning to implement a wireless network but over a third using these networks do not protect them, leading to the new phenomenon of 'drive-by hacking'.
Almost all organisations are not as well protected as they think 96pc of respondents thought they were taking reasonable steps to protect themselves, with 58pc adamant that they were well-protected.
Yet almost nine out of ten companies in this group suffered one or more security breaches in the last year.
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