Breaking News - Security:
Research Reveals False Sense Of Security Among Network IT
Mgrs
Britestream Networks (formerly Layer N Networks) and Q&A Research announced
the findings of a research project designed to understand the level and types
of security measures organizations are deploying and whether IT managers
believe they are vulnerable. The national survey was conducted in October with
300 IT professionals in companies with annual revenues of more than $30
million that are highly and somewhat involved with their company's network
security.
A key finding was that while significant numbers (76 percent) of
respondents
believe their network is more secure than a year ago, 81 percent report that
attacks are increasing and an unexpected one in five admitted that a hacker
had gained unauthorized access to their company's network. In addition, the
percentage of IT budgets set aside for network security is not expected to
increase next year and in fact, respondents said their biggest obstacle to
making the company's network safer is "securing budget for security
solutions."
"We were surprised that many IT managers are feeling fairly secure," said
Warren Pino, CEO of Q&A Research. "Because they made investments in network
security last year, two-thirds of respondents feel that their network is more
secure than their competitors. But at the same time, they reported a huge
increase in attacks and a significant number of breaches. Another irony was
that even with increased regulations regarding security compliance and senior
management support, budgets for security have not increased."
Additional research findings included:
- Viruses are the biggest concern among IT professionals
(with
88
percent
of
respondents agreeing they are a concern), followed closely by "hacking and
other unauthorized access", "theft of customer information" and "liability
related to information security issues."
- Security is now top-of-mind among CEOs and other senior
management
in
companies of all sizes. Respondents were asked to share not only their opinion
of their network's security, but also that of their CEO. There was no
statistical difference between the respondent's opinion of the level of
network security and their perception of the CEO's opinion. Over 70 percent
felt "somewhat" to "very" secure and thought their CEOs felt the same way. The
new data is indicative of the high awareness level and importance that has
been placed on security in the past year.
- Although larger companies feel more secure than smaller
companies,
they
also have higher levels of concerns about specific topics such as
hacking.
- Regulatory-driven companies were more likely than
non-regulatory
companies
to want to spend more on network security. Sixty-seven percent (67 percent)
would spend more to secure their network if they had the budget.
- Making a business case for additional network security
budget
has
been
a
challenge for IT management. The value of lost data and lost productivity were
the top two metrics used to justify additional spending on network
security.
"Our intent in sharing the results of this research with the industry is to
help businesses understand how vulnerable they are to potential attacks and
how to prepare for the increase in attacks," said Bob Weinschenk, president
and CEO of Britestream. "In this market, although we would expect to see
budgets increasing, we certainly got the impression that companies are looking
for ways to painlessly increase the security of their networks and we are
encouraged that this is top-of-mind with CEOs."
|
