UK businesses still failing to address the protection of data assets from staff abuse, misuse or direct theft
(10/07/2008)

According to a new Bell Micro research report, UK businesses are still failing to address the protection of data assets on the network from staff abuse, misuse or direct theft. Nearly half (47%) of the respondents believed their companies were yet to implement real time systems that would inform IT departments if security levels were breached.

Most respondents in IT based roles (74%) recognise, and work to protect, against the danger of rogue connections such as customer or contractor laptops yet almost half (43%) were failing to enforce a policy of encrypting data on portable devices - such as personal laptops, PDAs and removable media. Worse still, 62% of respondents indicated that IT departments would be unable to detect if an employee copied data off a server onto a PC, laptop, USB stick or a disk.

“What these findings show is that there is still a paramount need to increase attention to data management and protection in an organisation,” said Steve Browell, General Manager, of the Security Division at Bell Micro. “How data is encrypted, moved and stored must move up the business agenda, otherwise we are just leaving the gates wide open for the horse to bolt. The tools are already available but vendors, distributors and resellers alike must come together to deliver better education to customers and create a total service that can deliver true data loss prevention.”

While security remains a key investment for UK businesses, this latest research suggests that critical network security services are either yet to be broadly adopted or have been purchased but incorrectly implemented.

“Bell Micro believes this research highlights a prime opportunity for resellers to offer corporate security health checks and deliver new revenue streams in the security market,” concluded Browell.