Hacking tools used by employees within organizations may be the biggest security threat to emerge this year, leading to increased vulnerabilities, lost data, and wasted time and resources, reports Websense Inc.

Websense, the worldwide leader of employee Internet management (EIM) solutions, reports that the number of hacking Web sites has increased 45 percent in the last 12 months, now totaling approximately 6,000 Web sites, encompassing more than one million pages of content. The dramatic spike may signal an increasing internal security risk for organizations worldwide.

Nearly 90 percent of U.S. businesses and government agencies suffered hacker attacks in the last year, according to Newsbytes, while 80 percent of network security managers claim their biggest security threat comes from their own employees, according to a survey conducted at this year's Gartner Information Security Conference.

While employees are a company's greatest asset, they can also represent its greatest security risk," said Becky Bace, a network security expert and author of Intrusion Detection. "Hacking Web sites offer tools and instruction that allow even non-technically savvy workers to disrupt the normal operation of their own network or other networks outside their organizations -- on company time and using office computing resources."

Most hacking Web sites contain archives of available hacking tools, such as denial of service attack software, sniffer and anti-sniffer software and password crackers. In addition, the sites also offer free downloads of hacker programs -- such as Win Nuke, Boom and NetBus -- that enable employees to be self-taught. Finally, sites often provide step-by-step instructions for beginners on everything from how to gain unauthorized access to computer systems to instruction on how to perform attacks on routing protocols.

The increase in hacking Web sites may have much to do with both political and economic issues of the day. According to research from security firm mi2g Intelligence Unit, the "most hacked" country in the world is the United States, with more than 26,000 attacks occurring so far this year. In addition, the rising unemployment rate -- which recently hit six percent, according to the U.S. Dept. of Labor -- is creating a new pool of disgruntled workers willing to damage their former employers at any cost.

NewsRE