Survey finds IT attacks are down, but costly

About 33 percent of companies said they experienced fewer security breaches in their networks in the past year , compared to 42 percent a year earlier.

Although the numbers went down, the attacks, whether by viruses, worms or malicious spyware, were more damaging, said a report by Oakbrook Terrace-based Computing Technology Industry Association.

"The most troubling is the security breaks that have been occurring are of a more severe nature," said association spokesman Steven Ostrowski.

This is the fifth year that Comptia has surveyed its membership nationwide about security breaches. This latest one had 1,070 respondents.

Among organizations that reported a security breach in the last year, the average severity level was 4.8 on a 10-point scale with 10 as the most severe. Severity in the last two years was rated at 2.3 and 2.6, respectively.

"It's a mixed blessing," Ostrowski said. "It's good that the number of actions are down, but the ones that have been happening have been causing more damage."

The survey found that the average cost of a security breach across all companies was $369,388. That included a handful of companies who said their costs were more than $10 million, reflecting the higher risk that larger companies face, the survey said.

About one-half of all respondents estimated that the cost of security breaches in the last 12 months was $10,000 or less.

The survey also said that not all security breaches originate externally.

Among organizations that experienced a security breach, nearly 1 in 4 (or 23 percent) indicated that they had an insider security breach or threat.

For more information, visit www.comptia.org/sections/research/

Surfing: Lincolnshire-based Firefly Mobile (www.fireflymobile.com), a designer, developer and manufacturer of mobile phones for kids and tweens, is partnering with software developer Avanquest on FlyKicks software, which is included free on the new Firefly mobile FlyPhone.

It allows young users to customize their phones with unique ring tones, wall papers and slide shows for free and to share them with friends.

FlyKicks also is the portal to the FlyStore, which features a wide array of downloadable for-purchase games, music, ring tones, wallpapers and video from leading tween content suppliers parents trust.

• Shedd Aquarium's Great Lakes initiative, "Listen to Your Lakes," will participate in Blog Action Day today. It is the first annual event where bloggers Web-wide will promote the environment.

The event has attracted more than 10,000 blog sites reaching an audience of more than 7.1 million people, according to Shedd spokeswoman Elizabeth Latenser.

For information visit listentoyourlakes.typepad.com or blogactionday.org/press_kit.