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Secure Computing Survey Finds that Insider Threats are keeping IT

May 2008 by Secure Computing

Secure Computing Corporation announced the results
of an IT Director survey that uncovers a rising concern of insider
threats and widespread acknowledgement of being unprepared for emerging
Web-based attacks.

When asked whether they believed insider or outsider threats posed a
bigger problem to their organisation, more than 80 per cent of the 103
Directors surveyed prioritise insider threats (defined as either
unintentional data leakage or deliberate data theft). Less than one in
five respondents (17 per cent) feel the external threats posed by
hackers are more dangerous.

This could be in part due to the fact that 37 per cent of respondents
have experienced leakage of sensitive information in the past year. In
line with this, internal security is at the top of IT Directors’
shopping lists when respondents were asked to rank potential future
investments that included perimeter security, staff mobility and network
performance.

Additional interesting survey findings include:

* Email is the Enterprise Achilles Heel: Email is identified as
the biggest current security risk to respondents’ organizations (34 per
cent). Interestingly Voice over IP comes second (25 per cent) and is
deemed a bigger threat than Web surfing (browser-related threats), which
only 21 per cent of IT Directors feel is the biggest threat. Despite
this apparent confidence, however, four in five respondents (79 per
cent) feel they could be better prepared for Web-borne threats.

* Web 2.0 Woes: Established external threats continue to be the
biggest concern in a developing Web 2.0 environment. Viruses top the
list of offenders, with 31 per cent of IT Directors feeling it is the
biggest threat, while spam comes in second (18 per cent) and data leaks
a close third (14 per cent).

* Hackers Not a Hindrance: When asked to rank their biggest
external security concerns, hackers are surprisingly the area of least
concern, with less than a quarter (22 per cent) of respondents feeling
they are the biggest threat. Malware appears to be the major headache,
with 56 per cent identifying it as their biggest worry.

* Insider Investment: The biggest budgets will be spent on
strengthening internal security, with 35 per cent of IT Directors
identifying it as their priority planned investment. Surprisingly,
considering the forecasted downturn in the economy, "IT asset management
for cost savings" is the lowest priority.

* Security Climbing the Board’s Agenda: IT Security is starting to
be seen as a genuine business enabler - only one in 10 respondents (11
per cent) feel their board perceives it as a "necessary evil" whilst the
remainder feel it is at least as important as any other IT project.

* Data Disclosure Drive: Over two-thirds (68 per cent) of
respondents believe data breach disclosure should be compulsory in the
UK, as it is in the United States.

Kieran Lees, Regional Sales Director for the UK, Ireland, South Africa
and Israel at Secure Computing, comments: "It’s fascinating to see how
perceptions of the threat landscape among senior IT decision makers is
evolving, with the insider threat and data leakage rivaling traditional
external threats among IT Directors’ primary concerns. It’s also very
encouraging to see that security is starting to be seen as a genuine
business enabler rather than just a necessary evil.
"


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