Computer viruses threaten everything from cell phones to car engines, industry report says

• Daily computer security headaches such as viruses and spam threaten to spread to a far wider range of devices -- from phones to car engines, a survey to be published by IBM on Wednesday has found.
• The report, published by IBM Security Intelligence Services, a consulting arm of the world's largest computer company, paints a picture of rampant, albeit controllable, security dangers.
• The survey combines data from big business customers, government security statistics and observations from some 2,000 IBM security consultants, detailing the proliferation of computer security threats in 2004 and likely next moves.
• Watch out for viruses that spread to mobile phones, handheld computers, wireless networks and embedded computers which are increasingly used to run basic automobile functions, the 2004 year-end "Security Threats and Attack Trends Report" report warns.
• Then again, the readiness of individuals and companies to confront these challenges has also evolved, the study said.
• "It's difficult to say whether we are moving to a steady state," Stuart McIrvine, director of IBM's security strategy, said in an interview.
• It details a range of challenges that computer users faced in 2004 and extrapolates from early warning signs what sort of new threats electronics users are likely to face this year.
• The fastest-growing threat in 2004 was phishing -- a method of enticing computer users to submit personal information or fall prey to other Internet deceptions.
• Such e-mails grew 5,000 percent last year, with some 18 million phishing attempts recorded, according to IBM.
• Kelly Kavanaugh, a computer security analyst with market research company Gartner Inc. of Stamford, Connecticut, said the IBM study highlights some newer threats such as phishing that will only grow more serious during 2005.