Data theft tops downtime in web security survey

The majority of IT security executives are more concerned about data-stealing malware entering their networks than downtime and loss of productivity due to virus infections, survey results published today have revealed.

Overall, 91 per cent of respondents to a web security survey by Finjan said they perceived cyber crime as a major business risk. This perception rose to 95 per cent among financial sector organisations.

Despite 73 per cent of surveyed chief information or security officers saying they were more concerned about data theft than cyber attacks causing systems downtime, 68 per cent admitted their corporate intellectual property (IP) and sensitive information was at risk.

A further quarter of those surveyed reported that their data had been breached. And an alarming 42 per cent could not exclude the possibility of a breach.

Yuval Ben-Itzhak, Finjan's chief technology officer, said: "Today, more and more corporate data is at risk of being stolen by cyber criminals."

The survey questioned 1,387 people globally, the majority of whom were directly involved in IT security. The largest industries represented were banking and government.