Recession increases risk to intellectual property

By siliconindia   |   Monday, 02 February 2009, 23:57 IST   |    5 Comments
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Mumbai: "Global recession is putting vital information at greater risk than ever before," warned security experts and senior IT decision makers in a study by McAfee on 'Unsecured Economies: Protecting Vital Information.' Researchers from Purdue University's Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security examined responses from more than 800 CIOs in India, United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, China, Brazil and Dubai. The companies surveyed estimated they lost a combined $4.6 billion worth of intellectual property last year alone, and spent approximately $600 million repairing damage from data breaches. Based on these numbers, McAfee projects that companies worldwide lost more than $1 trillion last year. "Based on the survey findings McAfee conservatively estimates that the global damage from data loss to top one trillion dollars," said Dave DeWalt, President and Chief Executive Officer of McAfee. "This report is a wake-up call because the current economic crisis is poised to create a global meltdown in vital information. Increased pressures on firms to reduce spending and cut staffing have led to more porous defenses and increased opportunity for crime. Companies need to stop looking at security as a cost center but as a business enabler," Dave added. According to the study, developing countries are more motivated and spend more on protecting intellectual property than their Western counterparts. India, Brazil and China spent more money on security than Germany, UK, US and Japan. Seventy four percent of Chinese and sixty eight percent of Indian respondents invested in securing their intellectual property for competitive advantage. Experts say there has been an increase in the number of corporate data intrusions by organized cyber mafia gangs. Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting executives using sophisticated phishing techniques. The biggest concern for thirty nine percent of respondents was protecting their intellectual property from outside data thieves. Forty two percent of respondents said displaced employees were the biggest threat to vital information.