Don't Be Afraid, Be Informed

Take a look at this CyberAtlas compilation of articles focusing on digital attacks, cyberterrorism, hacking, viruses and worms, fraud, identity theft, software piracy, and other threats to technological security.

U.S. Unprepared for Disasters
Many U.S. companies and households don’t have procedures in place to deal with IT outages, natural disasters, or terrorist strikes, according to a pair of studies.

War Threat Threaded to Digital Attacks?
Digital attacks against the U.S., UK and Italy rise, as those against France decline, while the UK also finds e-commerce security risks.

2003: Year of the Worm?
Digital attacks, including worms and viruses, have caused more than $8 billion in damages worldwide in January 2003, with the Slammer virus alone costing about $1 billion.

Identifying Identity Theft
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) found a reported 86,168 instances of identity theft during 2001, and Aberdeen Group estimated more than $8.75 billion in related losses in 2002.

Worldwide Attacks Down, U.S. Up
Digital attacks have declined 8 percent worldwide during November 2002, but there has been a 13 percent increase in penetrations on the U.S. Internet infrastructure,

Global Piracy Rate Rises to 40 Percent
Lack of information coupled with vague laws could be largely responsible for the high global piracy rate.

Security a Priority in IT Budgets
IT spending may be having a less than stellar year, but some companies are increasing their budget allocations for security improvements.

Computers Still Insecure
Despite widespread concern that cyberterrorism is a legitimate threat to worldwide computer infrastructure, only 42 percent of Canadian CEOs felt it was a moderate priority to protect their companies from attacks, and another 19 percent said it was not a priority at all.

9/11 Effects on the Net
Reflection and commemoration were prominent September 11 anniversary activities as Nielsen//NetRatings measured increased Internet traffic to related sites.

Cyberterrorism Concerns IT Pros
Threats of terrorism concern IT professionals, and almost half of those surveyed indicated that a major cyber attack on the U.S. government could be imminent.

Increased Security Spending Includes Personnel
Security spending at most organizations accounts for somewhere between 2 and 20 percent of the total IT budget, according to research.

IM Use a Big Security Threat
When it comes to security issues in the enterprise, blame the messenger and not the communications channel, at least that’s what a majority of IT security pros say.

More IT Dollars Headed for Security
Heightened security concerns are forcing companies to devote an increasing amount of their tight IT budgets to security, whether that means buying security software and turning to managed security services.