Symantec today released the findings of its global 2010 State of Enterprise Security study, with a staggering 89 percent of companies in Australia and New Zealand the target of a cyber attack in the past 12 months.
The study found that 42 percent of organisations globally and 43 percent in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) rate security their top issue. This isn’t a surprise, considering that 75 percent of organisations globally and 89 percent in ANZ experienced cyber attacks in the past 12 months.
Attacks were rated as somewhat or highly effective in 36 percent of cases globally and 34 percent in ANZ. Worse, 29 percent of enterprises globally and 34 percent in ANZ reported attacks have increased in the last 12 months.These attacks cost enterprise businesses an average of USD$2 million per year.
Every enterprise (100 percent) experienced cyber losses in 2009. The top three reported losses globally were theft of intellectual property, theft of customer credit card information or other financial information, and theft of customer personally identifiable information. In ANZ, the top three reported losses were theft of corporate data at 53 percent; theft of customer personally identifiable information at 53 percent and identity theft at 37 percent.
IT administrators need to protect information proactively by taking an information-centric approach to protect both information and interactions. Taking a content-aware approach to protecting information is key in knowing where sensitive information resides, who has access, and how it is coming in or leaving your organisation.
