Cyber-terrorists have hacked into a third of the country's big companies and public sector organisations, including government offices, causing damage ranging from infiltrating corporate bank accounts to information theft, a survey reveals today.

The study, thought to be the first of its kind, found that almost half of the institutions taking part considered that the security breaches, sometimes known as netspionage, posed a significant threat to their survival.

The survey underlines growing fears about the threat of cyber-terrorism and concern that the UK's leading organisations are ill-prepared to cope with the problem.

Last week, the foreign secretary, Robin Cook, warned that hacking could cripple Britain faster than a military strike because computers are managing most of the country's infrastructure.

The results of the study will be published by the Communications Management Association (CMA), which is at the forefront of the fight against cyber-terrorism. CMA members, who are strictly vetted, work in the UK's big institutions to help them develop systems to combat hacking.

The CMA asked 172 of its senior personnel to report on incidences of cyber-terrorism in their organisations. Anonymity was guaranteed, though many of the companies involved are household names.

Forty-eight per cent reported that the future of their organisation "could be put at risk by a major network-related security breach", and 60% admitted that hacking posed either a "significant" or "very significant" threat to their survival. Thirty-two per cent admitted being the victim of cyber-terrorism.

Hackers had raided corporate bank accounts, stolen information and been responsible for tax evasion, investment fraud, credit card fraud and sales fraud. Half of the CMA specialists thought their businesses were not prepared to cope with security assaults.

To help tackle the problem, the CMA today launches a new body, the Institute for Communications Arbitration and Forensics, which will urge businesses to give computer security a greater priority.

"Our members are the ones in the frontline, and they represent organisations right across the spectrum," a CAM spokesman said. "These institutions have found they are at very serious risk."

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Useful links
Communications Management Association (CMA)
CMA: Institute for Communications Arbitration and Forensics