The Latest in IT Security

By Peter Apps LONDON (Reuters) – Almost 60 percent of top firms in the United States, Canada, Britain and Australia have boosted their spending on cyber defenses following the theft of data of millions of customers from U.S. retailer Target and other big companies, a report said on Tuesday. A survey by BAE Systems Applied Intelligence of senior IT officials in companies ranging from banks to mining, technology and law showed U.S. firms already spending 15 percent of their entire IT budgets on improving security. In the United States, 60 percent of those surveyed said their cyber security budget would increase as a direct result of recent high-profile attacks. It will be those organizations that truly integrate security intelligence into their operations that will reap the benefits and deliver business growth. Formerly known as Detica, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence is the cyber arm of the British defense company.