Almost half of world's stock markets targeted by cyber attackers last year: Study

A recent survey has revealed that almost half of the world's security exchanges were targeted by cyber attacks last year.

The Fox News reports that almost 53 percent of exchanges, among those surveyed, had experienced a cyber attack last year that involved direct and indirect cost, each less than 1 million dollar.

According to the report, the most common forms were Denial of Service attacks, which seek to disrupt websites and other computer systems by overwhelming the targeted organizations' networks with computer traffic, and viruses.

Other forms of cyber-crimes reported by the exchanges included laptop theft, website scanning, data theft, and insider information theft, the report added.

The International Organization of Securities Commissions' (IOSCO) research department and the World Federation of Exchanges Office has said that the prevalence of attacks along with the interconnected nature of the markets has created the potential for widespread public mistrust.

The lack of widely available insurance against cyber-crime adds to the risk, as nearly four in five exchanges would have to bear the costs of a major attack themselves, the survey found.