Data theft tops downtime in web security survey

published 11 September 2008

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.

A 25-year veteran enterprise technology expert, Miya Knights applies her deep understanding of technology gained through her journalism career to both her role as a consultant and as director at Retail Technology Magazine, which she helped shape over the past 17 years. Miya was educated at Oxford University, earning a master’s degree in English.

Her role as a journalist has seen her write for many of the leading technology publishers in the UK such as ITPro, TechWeekEurope, CIO UK, Computer Weekly, and also a number of national newspapers including The Times, Independent, and Financial Times.