Firms hit hard by organised IT crime

European companies are suffering increasing financial losses from security attacks and careless use of IT assets, according to research from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Some 40 per cent of senior risk managers questioned said they had experienced losses through damage and misuse of technology, and 25 per cent said they lost money as a result of deliberate crimes, such as phishing.

Gareth Lofthouse, the EIU’s European director, says there has been a rise in organised computer crime.

‘The financial impact of system failures, hacking, viruses, and so on, has been escalating. Some estimates say the number of viruses has increased by 59 per cent in the past year,’ he said.

Seventy per cent of respondents said they will invest in more security and anti-virus systems to manage the threat.

Lofthouse says ‘spear-phishing’, which targets specific organisations, is a particular threat to look out for