security fear factor worries three in four uk

Security fear factor worries three in four UK organisations
5 June

Research reveals 74 per cent of IT directors admit lack of trust in their network security

Seventy-four per cent of senior executives feel exposed to cybercrime, according to the annual security survey carried out by SafeNet, a global leader in information security.

1,200 senior IT and security professionals were asked how secure they believe their corporate network to be against a security breach. Of those respondents, only 26 per cent said they had full confidence in the security of their network, describing it as ‘very secure’.

The majority of respondents - 67 per cent - said they were not fully confident about protecting their networks from security breaches, while the remaining seven per cent admitted they considered it to be ‘not at all secure’. This latter result indicates a rise in network vulnerability over the last year, as just two per cent of respondents admitted to feeling so exposed when asked the same question in 2006.

“In one year, the number of organisations that feel very vulnerable to cybercrime has almost quadrupled,” said Gary Clark, VP EMEA, SafeNet. “It does not bode well for the Board, shareholders or customers if the IT experts within their organisations have such low confidence in current security measures.”

In terms of specific fears, 32 per cent cited ‘employee misuse and theft of information’ as their main concern, while 27 per cent named ‘unauthorised access to information systems by outsiders’ as their top security worry. The theft or loss of mobile devices that hold sensitive data was the biggest fear for 20 per cent of respondents. These top three concerns nearly mirror the results of 2006, showing that twelve months on, the same issues have still not been resolved.

“It is clear that, in many cases, not enough is being done to protect organisations’ critical information. Only enforced security standards that focus on staff education and the smart use of technology, with the full support of senior executives, will successfully tackle this fear factor,” said Clark. “This has to happen sooner rather than later, before the security fears become a reality.”

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