Despite what seems like an explosion in the amount and extent of IT security threats a new survey suggests that almost three quarters (72pc) of security professionals feel their organisation is more secure than it was 12 months ago.
Encouragingly, the issue also seems to be getting more executive-level attention. Research conducted by Cisco in the UK has found that less than a quarter of respondents (23pc) felt that security is still not recognised as a boardroom issue. There also appears to be a more strategic way of handling security, with 11pc of those polled claiming to take a purely reactive approach to it.
Businesses appear to be taking more notice of their staff when it comes to formulating their security processes. Although it is an area that has tended to be overlooked, most respondents said they have extensive IT security training in place and procedures such as acceptable usage policies (92pc), email usage policies (85pc), password policies (81pc) and training in the need for backups (59pc).
“It is very encouraging to see that, despite ongoing reports of new threats and breaches, businesses across all sectors are feeling better protected,” said Paul King, senior security advisor at Cisco Systems. “The security industry is clearly making progress and moving forward.
“It looks like businesses have recognised the importance of implementing comprehensive security strategies and are beginning to anticipate what might be around the corner,” added King. “This trend is likely to continue as next-generation security technologies become easier to implement and manage, enabling security staff to concentrate on improving the security of their systems and investigating incidents.”
By Gordon Smith
