Security threat growing in UK

UK businesses feel more vulnerable to IT security threats than ever, but are still ignoring best practice advice and leaving themselves open to attack, according to one of the world's largest studies of security issues.

The Global Information Security Survey 2004 questioned 7,000 technology and security professionals in 40 countries on behalf of Computing and its sister publications around the world.

The research shows that attacks are on the increase but companies are not listening to warnings about properly protecting their infrastructure.

Some 87 per cent of UK businesses feel they are more at threat from viruses and malicious hackers than they were last year.

And 92 per cent of UK companies have suffered downtime as a result of a security breach or some other form of espionage.

But straightforward advice and working practices to minimise attacks are being ignored, and users are relying on basic security measures for protection.

Some 87 per cent of UK businesses blame the growing threat on the increased sophistication of attacks, while 81 per cent point to the increasing volume - but many security policies still fail to include simple preventative measures.

The research found that a third of UK businesses fail to include email usage guidelines in their security policies, and only 44 per cent include details about appropriate use of the internet.

Only 40 per cent of UK businesses provide security awareness training to their staff.

'The issue always comes down to cost,' said Meta Group analyst Tom Scholtz.

'Many organisations have been investing in deploying strong authentication but when they've done the initial pilots and calculated the costs, the business maybe doesn't want to pay for it.'

Computing editor Mike Gubbins says government and industry need to work together to ensure that users adopt best practice to maximise security protection.

'Businesses are clearly concerned about the increased threat that viruses and malicious code attacks pose, but in many cases they are failing to take even the most basic measures to protect their infrastructures,' he said.

See also:

Security must include business continuity

Security threats have a significant effect on business - so are IT managers prepared?  12 Jul 2004

Corporate weak points persist

Vendors' legal liability regarding security flaws must be clarified  12 Jul 2004

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