Cybercrime has significant impact on Irish organisations, survey shows
Posted: 01 February 2007
Virtually every organisation today relies on computers in some way or another. Computer networks are critical to electrical power, water supplies, petroleum and gas supplies, telecommunications, transportation, financial services and emergency services. In a world where it is inconceivable to conduct business without the use of computers and the internet, how are Irish organisations affected by the growing problem of cybercrime?
Detective Inspector Paul Gillen, Head of the Garda Computer Crime Investigation Unit and Dr Pavel Gladyshev, UCD School of Computer Science and Informatics, one of the authors of the report, pictured at the official launch of the results of the ISSA / UCD Irish Cybecrime Survey 2006, at Newman House, Dublin
According to the results of the ‘ISSA / UCD Irish Cybercrime Survey 2006’ announced by the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, on 31 January 2007, Irish organisations are significantly affected by cybercrime*. In the first survey of its kind in the Irish Republic, virtually all respondents (98%) indicated that they had experienced some form of cybercrime, with 86% having experienced issues in the previous 12 months.
Dr Pavel Gladyshev, UCD School of Computer Science and Informatics, co-author of the report; Owen O'Connor, Vice President of ISSA, co-author of the report; the Tanaiste and Minister for Justice, Micheal McDowell; and Prof Barry Smyth, Head of UCD School of Computer Science and Informatics, pictured at the official launch of the results of the ISSA / UCD Irish Cybecrime Survey 2006, at Newman House, Dublin
“The most common issues affecting Irish organisations are viruses (90%), misuse of systems (88%), asset theft (63%), and ‘phishing’ (56%), says Dr Pavel Gladyshev, UCD School of Computer Science and Informatics, one of the co-authors of the study.
“Loss of productivity was reported as the most common consequence of cybercrime and was experienced by 89% of respondents” explains Dr Gladyshev. “The next most common result was loss of data, reported by 56%, followed by loss of employees through termination or resignation which occurred at 38% of organisations surveyed.”
The survey, conducted by the Information Systems Security Accociation (ISSA) and the UCD School of Computer Science and Informatics, also investigated how organisations detected incidences of cybercrime.
68% of surveyed organisations reported that cybercrime issues were predominantly discovered accidentally, 61% said cybercrime had been detected by technology and 58% stated that non-IT employees had detected security breaches.
62% of respondents stated that external sources had reported cybercrime to them - 58% by unconnected organisations such as media organisations and 46% by connected organisations such as suppliers or business partners.
“The survey also investigated how Irish organisations responded to detected incidences of cybercrime,” says Owen O’Connor, Vice President ISSA Ireland, co-author of the study. “Virtually all survey respondents (97%) have used internal disciplinary processes to deal with problems of cybercrime, while 39% have had employees resign or be dismissed over security problems.”
18% reported having engaged law enforcement officials to deal with an internal employee issue and of those investigations, 66% resulted in prosecution. In a positive finding, more than 78% of respondents considered that they were in a position to contact law enforcement officials where necessary in relation to cybercrime.
“The ISSA / UCD Irish Cybercrime Survey clearly shows that cybercrime is a significant issue for Irish organisations” explains O’Connor. “We intend to conduct this survey every year. Over time, it will present a comprehensive body of knowledge and information for Irish organisations in relation to this type of criminal activity and allow them to learn from one another how best to detect and tackle cybercrime.”
Welcoming the report the Tánaiste and Minister for Jusitce Michael McDowell said: “The Government is driving and supporting a wide range of initiatives to tackle cybercrime. This report will assist those initiatives and future developments in combating such crime.”
* Cybercrime is a broad term that covers any crime that involves information technology (IT) as a tool or target of the criminal activity.