Total security incidents nearly doubled in 2001 compared to the prior year, according to statistics released Friday by the federally funded computer and network security body, the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) Coordination Center.
While 2000 saw 21,756 security incidents, 52,658 such incidents were reported in 2001, CERT/CC said.
CERT/CC, based at Pittsburgh"s Carnegie Mellon University, issues regular advisories about security vulnerabilities in software, as well as virus and worms outbreaks, offers tips on keeping computer systems secure and helps to coordinate responses to some security incidents. CERT/CC also maintains a hotline for reporting security issues.
Security incidents, which are defined by the organization as any related set of security events, be they a large-scale virus outbreak or a much smaller one, have risen nearly every year since CERT"s founding in 1988. That trend has risen sharply in the last few years with nearly 10,000 incidents reported for 1999, more than 21,000 in 2001 and now nearly 53,000 such events in 2001.