US president Barack Obama has ordered a 60-day security audit to analyse government systems in order to ensure they are not vulnerable to online threats, it has been reported.

The review, which will begin immediately, will be led by Melissa Hathaway, a specialist in cyber-monitoring who served the George Bush administration's director of national intelligence.

John Brennan, the assistant to the president for counterterrorism and homeland security, said in a statement that he was sure the critical technological infrastructure of the country could ensure protection of US interests without infringing the rights of the individual.

He continued: "The national security and economic health of the United States depend on the security, stability and integrity of our nation's cyberspace, both in the public and private sectors."

According to the recent meeting of cybercrime experts attending the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, the number of attacks levelled at consumers is rising sharply.

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.