Ninety-three per cent of companies believe that instant messaging (IM) and Voice over IP (VoIP) use is moving faster than corresponding security, according to a survey of 291 companies by Infosecurity Europe.

The survey also found that IM is now prevalent in businesses, with large volumes of financial transactions being carried out over IM in some organisations.

The convergence of communication networks, devices and content has enabled service providers to deliver newer, faster and more advanced services including voice, data, video and applications over a single IP network, creating widespread security risks.

'These rapid technology advancements have tremendous benefits, they have raised questions from policymakers about whether security can keep up,' said Marika Konings, director of European affairs for the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA).

'It is vital for the information security industry to stay engaged with our policy makers as they evaluate the impact of these new technologies.'

As IM allows encrypted data traffic it could be an undetectable source of data leakage. Although there has been some adoption of VoIP, it is not yet a widely deployed technology in corporates except in small and medium businesses where many have rushed to take the opportunity to reduce costs.

There are similar security issues relating to VoIP regarding encrypted traffic.