Viruses cost businesses...

By Polly Raymond

© Silicon.com 1998, 1999

Viruses like Melissa and Chernobyl have cost businesses around £4.4bn so far this year, according to software security specialist, mi2g. The company reports that in the last six months alone, 1,700 serious incidents were recorded in companies worldwide. The number of incidents could rise to 3,000 by the end of the year, resulting in an overall cost of £12.5bn.

According to the company, the frequency of attacks and the high level of costs associated with them is down to lack of awareness at board level, and an increasingly lax sense of security accompanying the growing ease of connecting to the Internet.