A new report says businesses around the world are not keeping up with the new and increasingly tricky methods of cyber criminals.
The international technology company Cisco Systems released the report. It says businesses are trying to prevent cyber-security breaks using old technology and policies.
However, the report also says the increased threat is creating many new jobs for those able to help defend computer systems.
The report describes major mistakes businesses have made in trying to stop attacks. It said there was a 10 percent recent drop in updates to security measures among businesses.
Cisco examined 115,000 devices. It said 92 percent of them had security weaknesses in their software.
Jason Brvenik is a top Cisco engineer. He told VOA that computer criminals will attack any system, whether it is owned by a company or an individual. He said criminals will work together to target a computer system to try to steal information.
Brvenik said companies are beginning to use defensive measures that watch over their computer systems continuously. He said that helps them know if they are being attacked and to quickly answer such attacks. He said many companies currently do not discover attacks until 100 or more days have passed. He said new programs are able to identify attacks within hours.
Cisco says it is able to identify attacks on its systems within about 17 hours.
The fight against computer criminals is creating many jobs.
Tara Sinclair is the chief economist at the jobs listing website Indeed.com. She says computer attacks have caused a large increase in the need for computer security experts. She says companies need workers who can protect them from attacks.
Cisco estimates 1 million people are needed to fill cyber security jobs.
The company Symantec is the largest seller of security software in the world. It says the number of people needed for computer security jobs will grow to 1.5 million by 2019.
Cisco's Jason Brvenik said universities are working to train students for the growing cyber security market. He said 90 percent of the universities Cisco studied for its report offer cyber-security training.
I’m Caty Weaver.
VOA Correspondent Ramon Taylor reported this story from New York. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted the story into VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
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Words in This Story
cyber – adj. of or relating to computers, computer systems, the Internet, etc.
