... most hacking incidents go unreported to police or the public, experts said on Thursday.

Afraid of negative publicity, most companies that suffer intrusions take a tight-lipped approach that leaves consumers unaware when their identities may be compromised, they said.

At the same time, businesses are becoming more willing to discuss security issues with their competitors behind the scenes in an effort to head off online threats, an approach experts say has managed to reduce the impact of computer worms and viruses.

Still, a 2004 FBI cyber-crime survey found that only 20 percent of companies report computer intrusions to the police, and half don't report them to anybody.

[CLB: This needs to change.]