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Most firms satisfied with security, but still looking to improve, says survey

Three out of four respondents to a recent survey by INS consulting are satisfied with their current security capabilities, as well as the products available to improve them.

More than 90 percent of respondents also said that making security improvements are among their top priorities in the next year, with 29 percent saying it is their top priority, according to a web-based survey of 84 IT professionals around the world between June 15 and July 31.

Concerning security breaches, IT professionals are most concerned about inadequately trained or unconcerned users, a response chosen by 32 percent of respondents. Eighteen percent of respondents chose the difficulty of installing software, patches, or updates, and 17 percent picked insufficient or poorly implemented security processes.

Felicia Wetter, senior principal consultant at INS, said the issues chosen by security professionals prove people are a weakness in the security chain.

"Probably the most surprising number is the issues of most concern for a potential security breach with inadequately trained and unconcerned users (being the top choice). That was a pretty big increase between the last survey we did in 2003 and this survey," she said. "I think the main reason is that a lot of people are finally realizing that users are the weakest link. That one doesn't surprise me."

The survey also revealed that IT professionals consider external threats more serious than those from the inside on a number of breach-related issues, although insider threats have gained notoriety since the 2003 survey.

When asked to identify the importance of security elements to a total security effort, most respondents chose security infrastructure, followed by remote access and authentication services, written security policies and regulatory compliance.

Click here to email Frank Washkuch Jr.

 

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