What are companies doing to protect their data and computer networks from unauthorised access? About 73 percent used intrusion detection systems (IDSs) to protect themselves, according to the latest survey by the Computer Security Institute.

Biometrics security systems were used by 11 of the companies surveyed. Organisations that deployed biometrics were more likely than the average organisation in the sample to deploy other leading-edge technologies.

Some 83 percent of organisations using biometrics said they used encrypted logins while 72 percent used digital IDs or certificates and 87 percent said they used file encryption. The figures compare to overall averages of 58 percent using encrypted logins, 49 percent using digital IDs or certificates, and 69 percent using file encryption. Virtually all organisations use anti-virus software and firewalls.

Most (91 percent) employ some kind of physical security to protect their computer and information assets and most employ some measure of access control.

"Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this particular finding, then, is that almost one in ten organisations do not use any extra physical precautions to protect their computer assets," the survey found. "It is quite possible, in other words, that they do not have server equipment within specially locked rooms or that they do not equip mobile equipment such a notebook computers with locking cables."

Let' s call that one-in-ten statistic "shocking" given the potential for losses from database theft.

The survey also found the percentage of those who reported suffering incidents in the prior year who said they reported those incidents to law enforcement remained low at 30 percent.

While the percentage of respondents surveyed reported some form of unauthorised computer use remained approximately the same as in previous years, the financial losses reported for these losses plummeted. Fifty-six percent of those surveyed reported unauthorised use, compared to 60 percent last year.

The total annual losses reported were $201 million, down 56 percent from the high-water mark of $455 million reported last year by 251 firms. As in previous years, theft of proprietary information caused the greatest financial loss. An estimated US$70 million was lost due to theft of proprietary information, with the average reported loss being about $2.7 million.

In a shift from previous years, the second most expensive computer crime among survey respondents was denial of service, with a cost of $65 million. As in previous years, virus incidents and insider abuse of network access were the most cited forms of attack or abuse.

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Sign of the times: The number of digital cameras sold in the US is forecast to outstrip sales of traditional cameras that use film, according to the Photo Marketing Association International (PMA). At the end of 2002, 23 million American households, about 20 percent, owned digital cameras, up 57 percent from 2001, the PMA said.

Meanwhile, International Data Group (IDC) estimates that by 2006, digital images printed at home will account for 48 percent of all US consumer-printing revenue, traditional film processing 45 percent, digital images printed at retail locations five percent and online photo-finishing two percent. In 2002 ratios film processing accounted for 65 percent of revenues, digital home printing 28 percent, retail five percent and online photo-finishing two percent.

According to a PMA survey 16 percent of digital cameras sold in 2002 were purchased as a replacement for a film camera and the preservation of memories overtook sending photos by e-mail in 2002 as the top reason for taking pictures with a digital camera. Twenty percent of digital images taken in 2002 were printed.

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California is about to join New York in passing legislation requiring motorists to use hands-free devices while making cell phone calls. The legislation was passed by California's Assembly last week and moves to the Senate. The bill was boosted by a California Highway Patrol study that found cell-phone use accounted for 611 - or 11 percent - of the 5,677 collisions caused by inattention.

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Tech Tattle deals with issues in technology. Contact Ahmed at editor@offshoreon.com