Spyware poses greatest threat to enterprise

Published 28 November 2007

Spyware now poses the biggest security threat to organizations, while threats from worms, viruses, and browser-based attacks have lessened

Spyware now poses the biggest security threat to organizations, while threats from worms, viruses, and browser-based attacks have lessened, according to research from the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA). Fifty-five percent of 1,070 organizations surveyed said that the volume of spyware they are combating has increased over the past twelve months. Other security challenges organizations are responding to include lack of user awareness, cited by 54 percent of survey respondents; viruses and worms, 49 percent; authorized user abuse, 44.2 percent; and browser-based attacks, 41.5 percent. The percentages of incidents attributed to viruses, worms and browser-based attacks are down from the prior year’s survey.

That does not suggest that organizations can become complacent about such threats. When organizations were asked to identify the types of security attacks they’ll be challenged by in three years, viruses and worms topped their list:

* Virus/worm 20 percent
* Spyware/malware 14 percent
* Wireless access 9 percent
* Email/attachments 9 percent
* Phishing/social engineering/ID theft 5 percent
* Remote access 5 percent

CompTIA commissioned TNS, a global market insight and information group, to conduct the study to identify current IT security practices and highlight security challenges confronted by organizations of varying sizes and sectors.