The National Computer Security Survey (NCSS)
Final Methodology
ResearchPublished Sep 16, 2008
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) conducted a pilot survey in 2001 — the Computer Security Survey (CSS) — to collect information about computer infrastructure and security measures from a sample of 500 businesses across a range of economic sectors. Based on the pilot-survey results, BJS, along with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), decided to field a National Computer Security Survey (NCSS), a nationally representative sample of 36,000 businesses across 36 industry sectors. In 2004, RAND was selected to conduct the NCSS. The survey itself was fielded in 2006 with the data collected representing the experiences of companies in 2005. The survey collected data on the nature, extent, and consequences of computer-security incidents, monetary costs and other consequences of these incidents, incident details (such as types of offenders and reporting to authorities), and computer-security measures used by companies. The goal was to produce reliable national estimates of the incidence and prevalence of computer-security incidents against businesses and businesses' resulting losses from such incidents. This RAND report details the methodology used to develop and field the NCSS, as well as the sampling design and weighting methodology used.
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- Copyright: RAND Corporation
- Availability: Available
- Year: 2008
- Print Format: Paperback
- Paperback Pages: 90
- Paperback Price: $24.00
- Paperback ISBN/EAN: 978-0-8330-4467-9
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/TR544
- Document Number: TR-544-BJS
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Davis, Lois M., Daniela Golinelli, Robin L. Beckman, Sarah K. Cotton, Robert H. Anderson, Anil Bamezai, Christopher R. Corey, Megan Zander Cotugno, John L. Adams, Roald Euller, and Paul S. Steinberg, The National Computer Security Survey (NCSS): Final Methodology, RAND Corporation, TR-544-BJS, 2008. As of October 15, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR544.html
Davis, Lois M., Daniela Golinelli, Robin L. Beckman, Sarah K. Cotton, Robert H. Anderson, Anil Bamezai, Christopher R. Corey, Megan Zander Cotugno, John L. Adams, Roald Euller, and Paul S. Steinberg, The National Computer Security Survey (NCSS): Final Methodology. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2008. https://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR544.html. Also available in print form.
This report was prepared for the Bureau of Justice Statistics and conducted under the auspices of the Safety and Justice Program within RAND Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment (ISE).
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