A survey by leading internet security firm, Symantec Corporation, showed that a great number of small and medium-sized Australian firms had fallen prey to cyber crime in 2009, with up to 56 percent affected compared to the 46 percent hit in 2008.

Symantec said that about 52 percent of companies polled are most wary of malicious software dispatched by cyber criminals, highlighting that cybercrime is a top-most concern of Australian small and medium businesses.

Symantec managing director for the Pacific region Craig Scroggie said that the internet security firm has identified more than 240 million distinct new malwares worldwide in 2009 alone, which is a hundred percent increase from those found in 2008.

The survey also showed that about 22 percent of all emails sent to 510 respondent companies were spam, with about 23 percent of those polled affected by phishing scam, which is an attempt by hackers to fish out personal and sensitive data such as user names, passwords and credit card details.

Symantec has estimated that Australian firms were left to collectively deal with 250,000 spam mails each year, in the assumption that every employee receives 20 spam mails each working day and works an average of 225 days a year.

The company gave advisory to Australian companies that protecting their information should be easy by keeping their staff abreast on cyber crime developments, developing network security protocols and deploying a comprehensive security solution across their business.