Cross Country

National Computer Security Survey Announced

The Department of Justice (DOJ) will conduct the first national survey to measure the prevalence and impact of cybercrime on businesses within the United States. The survey, conducted by DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and the Department of Homeland Security’s National Cyber Security Division, will determine the number of cyber-attacks, frauds, thefts of information, and resulting losses during 2005.

The survey, which will be completed by the end of the year, will provide information to help businesses, industry, and government target resources to fight cybercrime. The comprehensive survey will collect information from a wide range of industry sectors about the following:

• The nature and extent of computer security incidents
  
  
• The monetary costs and other consequences of these occurrences
  
  
• Incident details, such as types of offenders and reports to authorities
  
  
• Computer security measures used

Cyber-threats are a national issue that can be adequately addressed only through cooperation among private firms and federal, state, and local agencies. The President’s National Strategy for Securing Cyberspace calls for DOJ to develop better data about victims of cybercrime and to track future changes.

The survey data will enable the federal government to assess what needs to be done to reduce computer security vulnerabilities and will provide the first official national statistics on the extent and consequences of cybercrime among the country’s 5.3 million firms with salaried employees.

Almost three-fourths of businesses responding to a BJS pilot survey said that they had been victimized by cybercrime during 2001. Computer virus infections were the most common form of attack (64 percent), followed by denial of service incidents (25 percent) and vandalism or sabotage (19 percent). Among the companies that detected a computer virus, less than 6 percent said they notified a law enforcement agency. Additional information about the new survey can be found at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/survey/ncss/ncss.htm.

COPS Conference Announced

Join the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services in Washington, DC, July 27-29, 2006, and learn how community policing is relevant in responding to everything from natural disasters to domestic security concerns. Visit www.cops.usdoj.gov for more information.