WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Reports of cyberattacks on U.S. government computers jumped by 40 percent in 2008, records indicate.
U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team figures show reports of attacks by people trying to plant malicious software intended to allow them to control or steal sensitive government data have been climbing steadily, USA Today reported Tuesday.
"Government systems are under constant attack," Joel Brenner, counterintelligence chief in the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, told the newspaper. "We're seeing … a dramatic, consistent increase in cybercrime (and) intelligence activities."
The US-CERT study indicated reports of unauthorized access to government computers and the planting of hostile programs rose from a combined 3,928 incidents in 2007 to 5,488 in 2008.
Pointing to the inexorably rising number of cyberattacks, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair told Congress last week foreign nations such as China and Russia, as well as criminal gangs and malicious individuals are targeting U.S. government computer networks, USA Today said.
