Attacks Could Double Against Financial Companies' Computers

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."

Despite the surge in attacks, more than a quarter of survey participants are making do with flat security budgets. About 10% of the participants have less cash to spend this year than they did in 2003.

The percentage of participants who say their companies have fully deployed anti-virus measures has dropped to 87%, from 96% in 2003.

But, on the bright side, more financial services companies have programs for managing privacy, and more computer security specialists say senior managers are committed to doing what it takes to comply with security regulations, Deloitte says.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, June 4, 2004. Copyright 2004 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.