CSI/FBI: Violations, Losses Down

If you think your company has actually experienced fewer security violations in the last year than it did the year before, and lost less money as a result, you're not crazy. In fact, according to a new report that will be issued tomorrow by the FBI and the Computer Security Institute, you may even be normal.

In their 11th annual poll of large enterprises, the CSI and the FBI report that 52 percent of organizations experienced unauthorized use of their computer systems in the last 12 month, down from 56 percent last year and 53 percent the year before. The percentage of respondents who say that there was no unauthorized use of their organization's computer systems increased from 31 percent last year to an all-time high of 38 percent this year.

The percentage of companies reporting six or more violations was also down to its lowest level in the survey's history with about 24 percent.

It's not all good news, however. Some categories of violations showed an increase in costs. Losses from laptop or mobile hardware theft, for example, grew from $19,562 per respondent in 2005 to $30,057 in 2006. Losses from telecommunication fraud rose from $2,750 last year to $12,377 this year. And the cost of Website defacement grew from $1,494 to $1,806.

Get the rest of the story at Dark Reading.

— Tim Wilson, Site Editor, Dark Reading