While many headlines spell doom and gloom when it comes to computer-related misdeeds, the average losses at businesses due to cybercrime continue to drop, according to a new survey.

For the fourth straight year, the financial losses incurred by businesses due to incidents such as computer break-ins have fallen, according to the 2006 annual survey by the Computer Security Institute and the FBI. Robert Richardson, editorial director at the CSI, discussed the survey’s findings in a presentation at the CSI NetSec conference here Wednesday.

Respondents in the 2005 survey reported an average of $204,000 in cybercrime losses, Richardson said. This year, that’s down to $168,000, about an 18 percent drop, he added. Compared with 2004, the average loss is down 68 percent.

Source: News.com