Securing remote access is top priority for network managers

And fear of a network security breach keeps them up at night

Fear of a network security breach keeps network administrators up at night

One in four network administrators rank securing remote access as their top priority, while 15 per cent say that keeping virus definitions up to date is key, according to a recent report.

A survey of 353 network administrators, commissioned by VanDyke Software and executed by Amplitude Research, presented 11 security management issues to the sample group and asked them to rank their top three priorities.

52 per cent ranked securing remote access as a top three priority, and 44 per cent ranked keeping virus definitions up to date as a top three priority. The next highest priorities were patching systems, which 36 per cent ranked as a top three priority, followed by monitoring intrusions (33 per cent) and secure file transfer (30 per cent).

The group of network administrators were also asked the question: "What keeps you up at night?"

39 per cent admitted that fear of a network security breach causes the most sleepless nights, marking a significant increase from 2009, when just 27 per cent responded with this answer.

38 per cent said that their users kept them awake and 32 per cent said their recovery plan (or lack of lack of recovery plan). The proportion who said that they "sleep like a baby" decreased to 26% in 2010 from 36% in 2009.

"The results also indicate that those feeling they had an insufficient IT security budget were more likely to have a worry that keeps them up at night, particularly in the case of worries about users and network security breaches,” said Steve Birnkrant, CEO of Amplitude Research.

“Only 18 per cent “slept like a baby” if they felt their company was not sufficiently budgeted for security needs," he added.