Steria survey reveals that overconfidence threatens the security of UK’s enterprises
London, UK, March 11, 2014 – Steria has revealed that 96% of UK’s enterprises believe they are capable of dealing with a major security crisis, however only 19% of enterprises surveyed said they operated 24/7 IT security. This data is taken from a wider study Steria conducted on cyber security, which investigates how threats are perceived by European enterprises. The report can be downloaded from Steria’s website: https://www.steria.com/uk/our-solutions/security/cyber-security/.
The study also reveals the types of security solutions in which firms have invested. For example the data shows that 90% of those polled have implemented identity and access management solutions and one fifth (21%) of those polled plan to implement encryption solutions in the next three years. However, only 14% of organisations with fewer than 5000 employees have invested in a Security Operations Centre, in order to monitor activity and events and ensure that anomalous behaviour is detected, identified, classified and acted upon where appropriate.
The survey also reveals that despite the rise in external attacks[1], many UK enterprises are still more concerned about internal attacks: Over half (59%) of them believe that external attacks account for less than 20% of their overall threats.
The survey also revealed that the top three trends that influence the information security strategy are mobility / BYOD (49%), cloud computing (43%) and business specific security issues (34%). For 69% of enterprises, data theft is one of the three most significant risks that keep them awake at night.
Florent Skrabacz, Head of Security Business from Steria said “While on the one hand it’s encouraging to see that companies are confident in their ability to deal with threats, there is a risk that this confidence is misplaced. Our research indicates that many enterprises have not correctly gauged the security threats that they face. Being properly equipped to deal with cyber risks is vital to enable organisations to make the most of all the business opportunities available in a multi-faceted digital world.”
About the survey:
Steria worked together with Pierre Audoin Consultant (PAC) to publish an independent report on cyber security. The report provides an overview of cyber security strategies and models for the next three years. Its purpose is to reveal how these threats are actually perceived by enterprises in Europe and the appropriateness or otherwise of the resources brought to bear. The report is based on a survey involving 270 security decision-makers, 78 of these were UK based. They represent small and medium enterprises, along with the largest organisations, from all areas of activity. The survey comprises a quantitative phase and a qualitative phase. The quantitative phase draws on 250 telephone interviews conducted as follows: 70 interviews in France, 70 in the UK, 17 Germany and 40 in Norway. PAC also conducted 20 in-depth face-to-face interviews. Based on the same questionnaire as the quantitative interviews, these were an opportunity for security decision-makers from large enterprises and specialised government bodies to discuss their cyber-security strategy and how it is implemented. The survey conclusions are available at the following URL: https://www.steria.com/uk/our-solutions/security/cyber-security/
About Steria: www.steria.com
Steria delivers IT enabled business services and is the Trusted Transformation Partner for private and public sector organisations across the globe. By combining in depth understanding of our clients’ businesses with expertise in IT and business process outsourcing, we take on our clients’ challenges and develop innovative solutions to address them efficiently and profitably. Through our highly collaborative consulting style, we work with our clients to transform their business, enabling them to focus on what they do best. Our 20,000 people, working across 16 countries, support the systems, services and processes that make today’s world turn, touching the lives of millions around the globe each day. Founded in 1969, Steria has offices in Europe, India, North Africa and SE Asia and a 2013 revenue of €1.75 billion. Over 20%(*) of Steria’s capital is owned by its employees. Headquartered in Paris, Steria Group is listed on the Euronext Paris market.
(*): including “SET Trust” and “XEBT Trust” (4.15% of capital)
