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This was probably the biggest week in history in terms of public data breaches. That's just the tip of the iceberg. The big banks are reporting 5 to 8 fold increases in losses to cyber fraud. Federal agencies and government contractors are finding systems all over that have been penetrated with root kits and very sensitive data stolen. cyber crime is increasing at an increasing rate because it is profitable and because it provides nation state advantages. Many companies are trying to fight back by buying security tools and praying nothing happens. That is foolhardy at best and criminally negligent at worst. Their people cannot ensure a perimeter is secure, cannot find a malicious network trace; cannot run hacker tools to find weak penetration points; cannot harden a Windows or UNIX system. It's embarrassing how easy we make cyber crime.

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The odds of becoming a victim of viruses, spyware, or phishing are about one in three, Consumer Reports said Tuesday in its annual report on the Internet.

In addition, U.S. consumers [you and I] spent at least $7.8 billion over the last two years for computer repairs, parts and replacements, because of malware attacks, the non-profit magazine found in its 2006 State of the Net report.

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The spring survey of 2,000 U.S. households with Internet access also found 20 percent without antivirus software and 35 percent without spyware blockers installed in computers.

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