Friday, October 24, 2008
Irresponsible vendors are costing the US billions of dollars every year because of serious deficiencies in data security.
IT World has reported that the cost of network security breaches could be as high as $200 billion a year, with Fortune 1000 companies reporting losses of $45 billion in 1999 alone due to the theft of trade secrets.
The website noted that by 2000, US businesses were losing over $1 trillion per annum due to the theft of intellectual property.
Bruce Schneider commented: "We pay for it in theft: information theft, financial theft... The problem is insecure software. It's bad design, poorly implemented features, inadequate testing and security vulnerabilities from software bugs."
Meanwhile, the Associated Press has reported that the office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has commented on a number of vulnerabilities in two new IRS computer systems, which will eventually cost the tax-payer $2 billion.
It noted that weaknesses, which were highlighted before the development phase of the systems, have not been addressed.
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