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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."

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