Irish Independent, February 15th 2007
Cyber Crime Strikes Irish Businesses

The first research into cyber crime in Ireland shows the problem is widespread and can have economic repercussions for companies. Like nature, the IT industry hates a vacuum. In the absence of hard facts on cyber crime in Ireland we've had a mix of responsible awareness raising, best-guess estimates from international data and all manner of hype or conjecture. But now, as Owen O'Connor, vice-president of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) Ireland, puts it: "We can unequivocally say there is a problem."

The Sunday World, February 11th 2007
Companies Targetted by 'Cyber' Criminals

Specialists at the Irish Information Systems Security Association have teamed up with University College Dublin to set new initiatives to combat cyber crime. Their survey, published last week, revealed that nearly ever firm have been hit but many crimes have been found out only by accident or good luck. Cyber criminals used computer viruses and other malicious software to steal data in attacks that cost firms from 5,000 to 100,000.

Irish Times, February 9th 2007
Firms trying to crack down on cybercrime

Until now, international studies such as the CSI/FBI Computer Crime Survey in the US have been relied on to draw conclusions on the extent of cybercrime activity in Ireland. Now, for the first time, a survey of Irish businesses has been carried out by UCD, providing hard evidence of the impact of cybercrime on them. It turns out it is a problem for nearly every Irish business, with 98 per cent of respondents indicating that they have experienced cybercrime.

Business & Finance, February 8th 2007
McDowell hits against cybercrime

Tánaiste Michael McDowell has said that continued advancements in internet technology, while largely positive, are affording new opportunities to cyber-criminals, writes Emmet Ryan. Speaking at the launch of the ISSA / UCD Irish Cybercrime Survey 2006, the Minister for Justice said the battle against internet criminals required a constant updating of the methods used.

Today FM: The Last Word, February 1st 2007

This is the first survey of its kind, up until now we've had to rely on an awful lot of international data which has been best guess in so far as the Irish context is concerned, but what we've had here is medium and large-sized Irish companies were surveyed late last year and it comes out that 98% of them have been affected by cybercrime, pretty much every one.

UCD.ie, February 1st 2007
Cybercrime has significant impact on Irish organisations, survey shows

According to the results of the "ISSA / UCD Irish Cybercrime Survey 2006" announced by the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, on 31 January 2007, Irish organisations are significantly affected by cybercrime. ... Welcoming the report the Tánaiste and Minister for Jusitce Michael McDowell said: "The Government is driving and supporting a wide range of initiatives to tackle cybercrime. This report will assist those initiatives and future developments in combating such crime."

Irish Times, February 1st 2007
High rate of cybercrime here

Cybercrime is virtually universal in organisations here and is resulting in significant costs and loss of productivity, according to a UCD survey launched yesterday by Tánaiste Michael McDowell. The ISSA/UCD Irish Cybercrime Survey, the first study of its kind to be conducted in the Republic, found that 98 per cent of all respondent organisations had experienced some form of cybercrime. "The most common issues affecting Irish organisations are viruses (90 per cent), misuse of systems (88 per cent), asset theft (63 per cent) and 'phishing' (56 per cent)," said Owen O'Connor, one of the authors of the study.

Irish Examiner, February 1st 2007
Up to 40% of firms fire employees for cyber crimes

Up to 40% of companies have fired employees for cyber crime, a survey involving gardaí revealed yesterday. Companies had experienced asset theft (63%), the leaking of confidential details (46%), organisational identity theft (17%) as well as financial fraud (39%). Nearly all had been victims of computer viruses. Co-authors and computer security experts, the ISSA (Information Systems Security Association) warned the long-term costs of cybercrime would be enormous. But vice-president Owen O'Connor said expanding the research will help guide gardaí to tackle the crime.

Metro, February 1st 2007
Cybercrime affects half of office staff

Almost every Irish business has been attacked by Internet criminals. Of 42 companies surveyed 98 per cent said they had been victim to internet criminals. Most of those - 86 per cent - said they had been attacked in the last 12 months. The Irish Cybercrime Survey was conducted by the Information Systems Security Association and UCD. Viruses were the most common problem, with 90 per cent of organisations affected, followed by misuse of systems (88 per cent), and asset theft (63 per cent). Owen O'Connor of ISSA Ireland said: 'Loss of productivity was reported as the most common consequence of cybercrime and was experienced by 89 per cent of respondents.'

Evening Herald, January 31st 2007
Cyber crime study

Viruses have hit the computer systems of nine out of 10 Irish businesses in the past year, causing productivity and data losses. Employees in 38pc of businesses surveyed were fired or resigned as a direct result of cyber crime. The first ever study of this type of computer crime in Ireland has been carried out by the Information Systems Security Association and the UCD School of Computer Science and Information.

ElectricNews, January 31st 2007
McDowell strikes back against cybercrime

Speaking at the launch of the ISSA/UCD Irish Cybercrime Survey 2006 on Wednesday, McDowell said continued advancements in internet technologies were a largely positive development, but new opportunities were being presented to cyber criminals. ... Discussing the survey, McDowell said findings that over half of its respondents had suffered individual incidents of cybercrime costing over EUR25,000 to their businesses should act as a wake up call to companies. "If that damage was caused by arson or theft you would take it very seriously," he said.

Silicon Republic, January 31st 2007
Cyber crime affects 98pc of Irish organisations

Cyber crime is affecting almost all Irish organisations, with 86pc saying they have experienced this over the past 12 months and almost a quarter (24.4pc) reporting that their systems had been breached by outsiders, new research reveals. The ISSA (Information Systems Security Association)/UCD (University College Dublin) Irish Cybercrime Survey 2006 - the first study of its kind in the State - found that almost all respondents (98pc) said they had been affected by cyber crime. "We can unequivocally say there is a problem," said Owen O'Connor, vice-president of ISSA Ireland and one of the authors of the report.

RTE TV: One News, January 31st 2007

"Nearly all Irish businesses surveyed in a new report say they've experienced cybercrime. The report, published by UCD and Information Systems Security Association, also found that employees in 40% of companies have experienced harassment of some form online."

RTE.ie, January 31st 2007
New report highlights cybercrime in businesses

Nearly all Irish businesses surveyed in a new report say they have experienced cybercrime. Of the 42 companies surveyed, 98% said they had been the victim of some form of Internet fraud, and nearly a fifth of the companies surveyed said this had cost them more than 100,000. 40% say that employees have experienced harassment of some form on-line.

RTE Radio: Morning Ireland, January 31st 2007

"A survey into cybercrime this morning claims almost every organisation in the country is a victim of illegal and unpleasant internet activity, that's phishing, through to Internet identity theft and harassment. One in five organisations say the cost of putting right cybercrime damage costs in excess of one hundred thousand euro. On the line, Owen O'Connor of the Information Systems Security Association, that association carried out the research."

ComputerScope, January 2007
2006: The Year in Review

One of ISSA Ireland's main initiatives over the past year was the development and launch of the first research on high-tech crime in Ireland. O'Connor said the ISSA / UCD Irish Cybercrime Survey aims to assess the experience of Irish organisations in relation to cybercrime by looking at the types of issues that occur, their impact, how they are detected and how organisations respond.

Silicon Republic, October 27th 2006
New survey to track extent of cyber crime in Ireland

The security professionals' association ISSA Ireland and University College Dublin (UCD) launched the ISSA/UCD Irish Cybercrime Survey yesterday morning at the second annual Irish Cybercrime forum, held in the Clinton auditorium in UCD. The data will be gathered between now and next month, with the results due to be published in mid-December.

Silicon Republic, October 2nd 2006
Banks band together on net security

Eoin Fleming, secretary of the Irish chapter of the ISSA (Information Systems Security Association), said more needs to be done to help educate the public to the dangers of the fraud, which works on the basis of fooling people into revealing their passwords and access details to their online bank accounts. "No matter what security measure you put in place, you're essentially dealing with a people problem because what phishers look to exploit is human behaviour. User education is really the only way to combat this," Fleming said.

Silicon Republic, August 21st 2006
Security group calls for user education to beat net fraud

Eoin Fleming, secretary of the Irish chapter of the ISSA (Information Systems Security Association), said more needs to be done to help educate the public to the dangers of the fraud, which works on the basis of fooling people into revealing their passwords and access details to their online bank accounts.

For earlier press mentions see here.