IT analyst firm, the Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), claims that businesses need to do a better job of protecting their critical data.
According to the survey of 227 security professionals: 47pc of all respondents said that more than half of their company’s data can be classified as ‘confidential’; 18pc of respondents said that this data is adequately protected; and 23pc of respondents believe that their current security technologies can completely enforce their data security policies.
What they say
"Businesses clearly realise that they need to take additional steps to protect their data and consequently security budgets are shifting to reflect this. Driven by concerns over regulatory compliance, risk management and a growing need to open up business applications to people outside the firewall, organizations are starting to deploy encryption more widely," said Jon Oltsik, senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group.
The survey results echo the concerns that chief information security officers have been expressing to nCipher, the firm adds.
"This survey provides one of the most comprehensive reports on the topic of data protection and reinforces many of the trends that we have seen among our major customers. They increasingly view the use of encryption as a way to protect critical data throughout their business rather than at single points of risk within their infrastructure," claimed Richard Moulds, Vice President of Marketing at nCipher.
Oltsik added: "Most organizations already use SSL and VPNs to protect data while in transit, but only a third of companies have deployed encryption for protecting data at rest, while another 40 percent are interested in deployment or have firm plans to do so in the next 12 months. However, there are a number of perceived barriers to the use of encryption, which include: worries about cost and the performance implications and concerns about key management and disaster recovery. Our survey highlights the pent-up demand for encryption and therefore the market opportunity for vendors that can successfully address these deployment issues."
To download a copy of the ESG abstract ‘Protecting Confidential Data,’ visit:
