Computer fraud and theft were responsible for an estimated $10bn [£6.4bn] in losses in the US last year, according to a new survey. The figure is double that of the previous year and is blamed on the vast increase in the use of the internet.
The survey suggests that many businesses and individuals are complacent about the risks of computer crime; some may even be unaware that they were the victims of fraud.
The Computer Security Institute (CSI), which conducted the survey, said the losses were caused by industrial espionage, malicious hacking and fraud. The San Francisco-based institute contacted 643 companies and public bodies in its survey.
It comes in the wake of last month's spectacular hacking attacks against Yahoo!, eBay, Buy.com and other major internet sites, which demonstrated how easily malicious hackers are able to disrupt the operations of many large companies.
The US president, Bill Clinton, convened a special meeting of computer security experts at the White House immediately after the attacks, and the conclusions of this survey are likely to put further pressure on the government to step up its security efforts.
The CSI's editorial director, Richard Power, said, in terms of computer crime, the situation was "going from bad to worse".
However, many cyber-security experts feel it is inevitable that the dynamic growth in internet business will bring a correspondent surge in internet crime.
"Isn't e-commerce booming?" asked Mr Power. "Then e-crime is booming. The more commerce that goes on-line, the more crime that goes on as well."
One of the main worries of the companies was the fear that their employees were the likeliest to offend. Of those surveyed, 81% believed that disgruntled employees posed a fraud threat or had enough access to place viruses in the system.
Three out of four companies feared that they were vulnerable to hackers.
Despite the high fear of computer crime, the survey found that very few companies were actively seeking to improve their on-line security; there is roughly one computer security executive for every 1,000 computers used in private industry. Of the companies surveyed, 74% reported theft of information, data sabotage or denial of service. However, the costs of denial of service attacks are hard to estimate.
In the survey - conducted with the cooperation of the FBI, 59% of the companies reported attacks from the internet, while 38% registered attacks from internal computer systems.
Bruce Gephardt, who heads the FBI's northern California computer security branch, said that there was a shortage of people assigned and qualified to deal with computer crime. However, there are signs that companies are beginning to wake up to the realities of computer crime: after last month's attacks, the FBI's scanning tool was downloaded 4,223 times in one day, compared with 170 on a day before the attacks.
"If the FBI and other law enforcement agencies are to be successful in combating the continuing increase in problems," said Mr Gephard, "we cannot always be placed in a reactive mode, responding to computer crises as they happen."
What worries the FBI is that much of the financial damage caused in the previous year was carried by "16-year-olds", who were hacking into and disrupting systems just to prove they could do it.
Experts fear that it is only a matter of time before many more professional criminals see the possibilities for blackmail and extortion as the internet expands.
Many new companies are vulnerable to these threats, as they place a premium on speedy response to customers seeking their services.
One incidental form of computer crime reported to be on the increase was the simple, old-fashioned theft of laptops.
According to the survey, laptops have become better designed and lighter to carry, they have also become easier to carry away.
Useful links
FBI's national computer crime squad
Advisory commission on internet commerce
US Internet Fraud Watch
