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Study: Cyber attacks against US doubled in last 3 years
New report by Ponemon Institute finds alarming increase in hacking attempts, cyber assaults across all US sectors
The number of cyber attacks targeting US organizations has doubled over the past three years, leading to hefty losses, a study released Tuesday indicated.
The study, conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by Hewlett-Packard, said that most of the attacks involve malicious code, denial of service, stolen or hijacked devices, or "malevolent insiders."
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"The occurrence of cyber attacks has more than doubled over a three-year period, while the financial impact has increased by nearly 40%," the report said.
The 2012 study showed organizations experiencing an average of 102 successful attacks per week, compared to 72 attacks per week in 2011 and 50 attacks per week in 2010.
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Among the organizations surveyed which were hit by successful cyber attacks, the average losses was $8.9 million, up 6% from 2011 and 38% from 2010.
"Organizations are spending increasing amounts of time, money and energy responding to cyber attacks at levels that will soon become unsustainable," said HP's Michael Callahan.
Information theft accounts for 44% of losses, while lost productivity accounted for 30%.
The average time to resolve a cyber attack is 24 days, but it can take up to 50 days, according to the study.
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