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UK Businesses at risk of IT security threats
Fri, 03 Mar 2006
New research reveals, small businesses in the UK need to be more aware of the risks they face from IT security breaches.

A survey by businesslink.gov.uk, the government’s website for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), found that over the next year, almost half 47 per cent of the 500 firms questioned expect to suffer an IT security breach.

The survey also found that one-fifth had already been subjected to security infringements.

The research found that over 20% of companies are not very confident in their understanding of IT security, and as many as 17% currently don’t have an IT security policy in place. A further 20% don’t actually know whether they have a security policy. Respondents identified loss of information (43%) and inconvenience of downtime (23%) as the key effects of online security breaches. The potential impact this could have on a business’s reputation was highlighted by more than 14%.

To help small businesses develop and manage their IT security effectively, businesslink.gov.uk has launched an IT risk assessment tool (www.businesslink.gov.uk/itrisks). The tool takes the user through a series of areas that relate to the people they employ, the technology they use and the processes they have in place.

The IT risk tools are designed to enable small companies to reduce the time and costs associated with managing an efficient and secure IT system.

Mark Holden, Programme and Strategy Director at businesslink.gov.uk commented, "With more businesses than ever relying on IT, online security has never been so important. The IT risks tool can help businesses identify the main threats to their systems both internal and external and to ensure they have the right safeguards in place to limit the potential damage to their business processes, employees and customers."

The survey comes only days after a similar piece of research by the Department of Trade and Industry found that computer viruses are responsible for the biggest security incidents among UK companies, accounting for around half of them