Finance chiefs are smart to worry about threats to their data from savvy hackers and cyber criminals, and there’s one tactic that’s helping IT learn better protection skills:

Hacker camp.

Increasing threats from cyber criminals have boosted enrollment in these camps, designed to teach law-abiding IT folks the tricks of the hacker trade.

Although hacker boot camps have been around for decades, attendance spiked in the past year or so as the number of attacks on company IT networks and computers skyrocketed.

The number of unique computer viruses and other nasty software hackers tried to load on computers and networks doubled in 2007. Experts say they’re anticipating it’ll double again in 2008.

While hackers used to ply their trade for bragging rights and mischief, many now look to steal personal and business data that they can resell to criminals and competitors.

While most organizations depend on firewalls and anti-virus software, analysts say these tools work predictably — which makes them vulnerable targets for savvy hackers.

Most hacker boot camps run about a week and cost around $3000 for each “camper.” Participants are trained as “ethical hackers” and can take a certification test backed by the International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants, a professional tech workers organization in Albuquerque, N.M.

Of course you can always encourage your IT department to hire former hackers who already know the tricks of their trade. But having former cybercriminals close to your company’s valuable data might not help you sleep soundly at night.

Tags: anti-virus, attacks, cybercriminals, data protection, data theft, firewalls, hackers, networks, viruses