Questionnaires were distributed to 4,899 information security practitioners in corporations, financial institutions, government agencies, and universities. Five hundred sixty-three questionnaires were returned, for a response rate of 11.49 percent. The responses were anonymous. Results produced tangible indications of how much computer-related crime is costing corporations, financial institutions, government agencies, and other organizations. Seventy-five percent of the participants reported financial losses due to various breaches of computer security. The breaches ranged from financial fraud, theft of proprietary information, and sabotage on the high end to computer viruses and theft of laptop computers on the low end. Fifty-nine percent of participants that reported financial losses were able to quantify them. The total dollar amount for these 249 organizations came to more than $100 million. Figures