IT managers admit network vulnerabilities

Only one in five IT managers has faith in network security

Four out of five organisations believe that their network is open to security breaches, according to research carried out by SafeNet.

A survey of 1,200 IT and security professionals shows that over 20 per cent do not have any faith in the security policies and technology protecting their network, declaring it ‘quite unsafe’.

And 60 per cent said they thought their network was ‘quite secure’, but do not have full confidence in it, and only 19 per cent of executives questioned believed it was ‘very secure’.

The results come at a time when cybercrime is on the increase. Recent research suggested that 68 per cent of IT directors predict that there will be more security incidents by the end of 2006 than 2005, and SOCA has escalated the problem to the top of their agenda.

'These findings are very worrying for the executive Board, shareholders and UK organisations generally,' said Gary Clark, vice president of Europe at SafeNet.

'Despite constant reports of high-profile security breaches, it seems many businesses are still not putting in place the appropriate measures to protect their health and reputation.'

In terms of specific fears 39 per cent of respondents cited unauthorised access to information systems by outsiders as being their main IT security concern. However, almost as many, 35 per cent, said employee misuse and theft of information was their biggest worry. The theft of laptops and mobile devices was the third most worrying issue, at 20 per cent.

“With the increased employment of temporary staff and wider accessibility to important data, measures for internal protection need to be as effective as those used to defend against external hackers,” said Clark.

'The onus falls on the executive Board to follow the Government’s example, and escalate security to the top of the agenda, so that internal and external security policies become a critical part of organisational structure.'

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