Alert Logic Study Reveals Midsized Businesses Hit with Internet Attacks Twice Weekly.

Many Midsized Companies Lack Sufficient Protection

HOUSTON -- Midsized businesses and institutions experience more than 100 "serious security incidents" each year, according to a survey by Houston-based IT security provider Alert Logic. Yet despite the gravity of these threats both to customers' privacy and the bottom line, many midsized organizations remain vulnerable when it comes to their network security, a problem that jeopardizes consumers and companies alike.

In a review of its 150-plus customer base, Alert Logic's Security Operations Center recorded more than 500 serious security attacks a week - incidents that made it past firewalls and into the network - averaging 2.3 serious attacks per week per customer. Intrusion incidents classified as "serious" pose significant potential for compromising information assets.

Worms, botnets, and other malicious threats continue to emerge in increasingly sophisticated versions that are designed to evade perimeter and end-point defenses of business IT networks. Nevertheless, many companies do not have sufficient protection in place above and beyond the firewall.

Alert Logic's survey counted only threats that successfully reached network interiors - and not those that firewalls or antivirus defenses were able to successfully contain. According to the 2006 CSI/FBI Computer Crime and Security Survey, 98 percent of companies now have firewalls, but many are missing other forms of network security. Fifty-seven percent of companies surveyed by the FBI lacked intrusion prevention systems.

"Firewall and antivirus technology works - it's just not enough to adequately protect against today's threats," said Misha Govshteyn, Alert Logic co-founder and chief technology officer. "Our research shows that there are more bad things happening in most companies' networks than they are aware of. And in this case, what you don't know really can hurt you - or hurt your network."

IT networks studied for the review included midsized companies in the financial, academic, energy, and e-commerce sectors in the U.S. and Canada. Alert Logic's Security Operations Center performed an analysis of the security incidents that threatened Alert Logic's client networks over a one-year period and found that the networks faced, on average, more than two serious security incidents each week - more than 100 a year. As part of its routine service, Alert Logic successfully and safely identified and eliminated these threats before they caused any damage. But had these companies lacked adequate internal network protection, these breaches could have caused significant damage to the targeted organizations.

Alert Logic's on-demand internal network security solution works to the advantage of midsized companies. For a flat monthly fee, no upfront hardware or software costs, and no additional staffing, Alert Logic offers midsized companies a hosted intrusion protection, vulnerability assessment, and IT compliance automation solution - as well as an optional 24x7 threat monitoring service - providing easy, effective, and affordable protection from threats that bypass perimeter and endpoint defenses.

About Alert Logic

Alert Logic is the security industry's only provider of on-demand intrusion protection, vulnerability management, and IT compliance automation solutions. Unlike appliance or software products, our Software-as-a-Service platform delivers solutions on-demand, featuring rapid deployment, zero maintenance, and no hardware or software costs. As a result, Alert Logic customers can detect and contain network threats, discover and correct network vulnerabilities, and help ensure compliance with policies and regulations. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, more information about Alert Logic is available at http://www.alertlogic.com