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IT Security: Symantec Corp. Survey Results

Friday, August 08, 2008

Symantec Corp has released pan-European research into small businesses’ attitudes to security. It reveals fundamental flaws and lapses across the board, despite an appearance of companies being security-conscious. British small businesses are among the most vulnerable, with 25 percent of UK respondents admitting that a recent security breach resulted in a tangible loss of business, and 13 percent citing a monetary loss as well – higher figures than the European averages of 17 and eight percent respectively.

The research, conducted among 874 respondents in nine countries across Europe, found that while many are aware of ’common’ threats such as viruses (93 percent), spam (91 percent) and trojans (82 percent), significant numbers of respondents have inadequate measures in place to tackle potential security breaches caused by newer threats. Emerging security threats such as “minnowing” (phishing at the lower reaches of an organisation such as Accounts Payable)and “whaling” (phishing at the Executive level of an organisation) are still unfamiliar to many small businesses.

The survey also shows that despite wide-scale educational efforts by the security industry, employees in British small businesses still do not realise that everyone must take responsibility for ensuring a secure IT environment.

Results show that 43 percent thought that it is the sole duty of the IT Manager and 34 percent put this responsibility at the feet of the Managing Director.

When questioned on how the company sources its IT security solutions, just 41 percent of UK small businesses said they used a dedicated outsourced IT specialist company to manage this.

"Symantec is naturally pleased that small businesses are aware of the threats posed in the modern computing era, but the results show that all too rarely do businesses proactively deploy the correct infrastructure to cope with the changing threat landscape,” said John Brigden, senior vice president at Symantec.

“Antivirus software and firewalls are vital foundations but, alone, aren’t enough to protect a business properly. Without comprehensive protection, small businesses can find themselves at significant risk.

“With system downtime and loss of information being among the biggest threats to a business’s brand, customer loyalty and ultimately revenue generation, it is imperative that small businesses realise that simple and cost effective IT security can ensure they withstand even the most determined attempt to breach a company’s security,” he said.

Of the companies surveyed, 53 percent had experienced an attack or system crash in the last year that resulted in a loss of information and 25 percent a loss of business as a result; prime candidates for the attack were viruses, worms and trojans. Furthermore, of concern to
business owners across the UK is the 31 percent of respondents for whom mistakes by employees caused the system crash or information loss. Thirteen percent admitted this financially impacted their business.

“The reasons behind the lack of preparation were highlighted again when respondents were asked about the frequency with which they update the company’s IT security,” said Brigden at Symantec.

“While 42 percent do so daily, 15 percent do it weekly and six percent monthly. Thankfully, just three percent update yearly and none of the British respondents did so only when the business was attacked, as opposed to the European figure of nine percent.”

When questioned about the risks posed by modern IT systems and infrastructure, it was security with wireless infrastructure that kept IT managers most awake at night, with 72 percent admitting this was their prime cause of concern, followed by security with mobile phones (37 percent) and security with IP Telephony (26 percent).