NU Online News Service, May 28, 2004, 5:42 p.m. EDT – Outsiders may be launching twice as many attacks against big financial services companies' computer systems this year.[@@]
When researchers at Deloitte & Touche L.L.P., New York, conducted face-to-face interviews of computer security executives at 10 big insurance companies and 90 other big financial services companies earlier this year, they found that 83% of the participants said their systems had been compromised in the past 12 months. About 40% of those participants' companies had suffered financial losses as a result of the attacks.
When the researchers asked about attacks in 2003, only 39% of the participants said their systems had been compromised.
Financial institutions "are under increased pressure to deliver a secure environment while also providing greater consumer access," says Ted DeZabala, a Deloitte principal. "There is a very fine balance between meeting such demands while maintaining the level of security needed to prevent and manage attacks."
