Businesses don’t seem to take security threats to remote access seriously – though more than half of UK businesses now provide their staff with access to their information systems over dial-up or the internet.
That is among the findings from the 2004 Department of Trade and Industry’s biennial Information Security Breaches Survey, by a consortium led by PricewaterhouseCoopers. A quarter of businesses rely on their normal network password controls, though these are often easy to crack, according to the surveyors. Wireless networks are becoming a focal point for external attack, it is claimed. Andrew Beard, the PricewaterhouseCoopers advisory director leading the survey, said: ‘Businesses seem to be dragging their feet when it comes to introducing security controls over remote access to their systems. There are several reasons for this. First, many of those who want remote access appear to be the least aware of the additional risks it entails and/or are senior people in the organisation and have the power to authorise it. Second, the majority of companies do not analyse their security incidents in a way that enables them to identify, which are caused by remote access. Lastly, awareness of the available security techniques is poor, leading to inappropriate security controls being deployed.’ All sizes of UK business have significantly increased their use of remote access since 2002 when the DTI Survey was last carried out; likewise a third of companies now have wireless networks compared to just 2pc two years ago. Some 35pc of businesses use Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), 57pc in the case of large businesses. The full survey was launched at the InfoSecurity Europe exhibition in London, in April.
