IT Security: The Facts

IT security is a rising concern, with security breaches costing UK businesses around £1.5bn per year. Despite this, the recent Dell Global Security Survey revealed that many businesses are not prepared for growing threats to the security of their networks.  27% of organisations reported that they lack trust in technology and IT – but simply ignoring the risks can be potentially damaging and expensive. Through better understanding of the threats to your network, you can prepare, reduce risks and potentially reduce the cost to your business.

49% report that they don’t have the resources to implement better IT security

The organisations surveyed reported an average of three barriers that prevented them from implementing better IT security. Resources and workload were most frequently cited, followed by 46% reporting budget constraints. Running an in-house IT department can be expensive and time consuming, and is not always the best use of resources. By outsourcing to a trusted provider with qualified and experienced engineers, you can often reduce the overall cost of your IT services, allowing more flexibility for the implementation of better security – which should, naturally, be a high priority.

73% use cloud computing; 46% use cloud security

There has been an increasing trend towards making use of cloud computing solutions for business; they are effective, and allow for increased collaboration and flexibility, with the option to share and access filed from wherever you happen to be. However, cloud computing poses specific security risks; the easier you make it to access your data from multiple locations, the greater the risk from outside attack, and when your data is stored by a third party provider, you may be at risk from their carelessness or from disasters which affect their service. If your business uses cloud computing solutions, it’s vital to ensure that they come with the right security and have backups in place.

Only 53% currently have security measures in place for mobile and/or remote access

Despite the rise in BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and remote access working, many businesses are neglecting this area of IT security. Less than a quarter of organisations update their mobile devices as a matter of routine, leaving them exposed to potential security exploits, and less than half have security policies in place for BYOD security. It’s important to ensure that your security measures and policies keep up with the technology you’re using at all times, as each new device can present different security advantages and disadvantages.

29% of businesses have no security breach response plan

Despite the fact that 87% of businesses surveyed said that they had suffered a security breach – 73% of them within the last twelve months – a surprising number of businesses had no response plan in place. Whilst precautions can reduce your risk of a security breach greatly, the threat can never be entirely eliminated. It’s important, therefore, that you have a response plan in place. At the very least, you should have an identified person in your organisation who will lead the response, so that your IT support services know who to liaise with.

24% don’t realise that they need to protect themselves from security risks both inside and outside their business

A security breach caused by a malicious outside attacker can be serious; however this is not the only risk to your network. It is important to ensure that you also have security measures in place against breaches caused from the inside. These may include breaches caused by disgruntled employees – so it is important to ensure that your policies cover such things as changing passwords when staff leave – but are more likely to be accidental breaches, which can be prevented by ensuring that systems are easy to use and that your employees are adequately trained.

Here at Tristar, we offer customer- focused IT support services in North London, and we can help you to understand the security threats to your network and find solutions, reduce risks and keep your business running smoothly. For a free quote and health check, simply contact us today.