Security watchdog sees leap in attacks

The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) Coordination Center reported Friday that the total number of attacks reported to the group in 2001 shot up almost 160 percent compared with the prior year. More than 52,000 incidents--each one representing a virus outbreak, network attack or insider abuse--were reported to the Carnegie Mellon University organization.

The group also said that the number of software bugs that could cause security problems rose 124 percent to 2,437 in 2001. The number of incidents and vulnerabilities have taken off in recent years.