With the data in enterprises likely to double every two years and company databases too storing significantly high levels of confidential data, cyber attacks on enterprise networks are likely to become more sophisticated.
So far, attacks using worms or viruses were meant either to scare users or get publicity for the malware creator. “The economic value of the data available in enterprises is increasing. This automatically means the attacks will be more sophisticated and aimed at taking away the data. The attackers do not want a ‘name’ when they can earn money by selling the data,” said Vishan Dhupar, MD, Symantec India.
The company announced the results of an enterprise security study conducted in India. Symantec surveyed 100 companies, across the telecom, hospitality, manufacturing, retail, technology and education sectors. It found 58% of enterprises were extremely concerned about loss of confidential and proprietary data. Also, 92% said IT security budgets would stay the same or increase in 2010.
While 66% respondents experienced cyber attacks in the past 12 months, 34% said the attacks were malicious and external. 23% experienced internal malicious attacks and 31% said attacks were due to unintentional internal actions. While all respondents confirmed there were losses due to cyber attacks, 81% suffered direct financial costs. The study estimates the average annual cost of cyber attacks is about Rs 60 lakh.
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