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An IT security solutions company has revealed that it discovered a database containing 8,700 server details in the hands of hackers.

Finjan has announced that FTP account information, including usernames, passwords and server addresses from a variety of the world's companies were at risk.

Credentials stolen from private and public sector organisations, including some Fortune level firms and some of the world's top domain names, are involved, it said.

The discovery was made by Finjan's Malicious Code Research Center, which has found that a new application has been developed to allow criminals to trade company details in line with the site's Google rankings.

"With this new trading application, cybercriminals have an instant 'solution' to their 'problem' of gaining access to FTP credentials and thus infecting both the legitimate websites and its unsuspecting visitors," said chief technology officer at Finjan Yuval Ben-Itzhak.

Greg Day, security analyst for McAfee, said recently that whereas in the past online crime was in part motivated by a desire to 'beat the system', now "threats are all about maximising revenue".

According to a recent survey by Connect, the two biggest IT headaches for businesses were 'everyday hassles with IT' (37 per cent) and 'security concerns' (32 per cent) In a recent survey of SMEs for Connect, the two most important benefits of outsourcing were 'guaranteed response times' and 'allowing in-house IT staff to concentrate on more strategic issues'