On Thursday, Security Fix featured an exclusive look at data pulled from an unreleased government report showing a steep increase in the amount of funds that banks, businesses and consumers lost last year due to computer hacking and malicious software attacks. Today, I’d like to highlight recently released figures, which show that trading giants on Wall Street also have grappled with a significant rise in computer intrusion-related fraud during that same period. In the first half of 2007, companies involved in managing securities and futures trades reported a 47 percent increase in the number of fraudulent or suspicious transactions attributed to computer break-ins, according to data released last month by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Financial institutions are required to file suspicious activity reports (SARs) when a suspected fraudulent or illegal transfer of funds exceeds $5,000. According to FinCEN, trading institutions filed more computer intrusion-related securities fraud reports in