Security feels pinch as SME IT spend decreases

Fewer than one in five UK SMEs will increase IT spending this year, with security slipping down firms’ priorities list, research has found.

The SME Security Report, conducted by Redshift Research and sponsored by GFI Software, found 44 per cent of SMEs will cut their IT budget this year. Only 19 per cent will increase IT spend, with many focusing on hardware infrastructure.

Spending on security was earmarked as a priority by less than a quarter of respondents, placing it sixth on the priorities list. GFI chief executive Walter Scott claimed security’s business benefits should be more prominent in sales pitches.

“It is easier to sell aspirin than vitamins,” he said. “But the market needs to understand security is an absolute function of productivity and this link needs to be clearly articulated.”

The survey claims many SMEs have a dangerously laissez-faire attitude to securing mobile devices, with less than half screening USB sticks before allowing network access. Just two fifths screen CDs or DVDs prior to granting network access and 60 per cent of firms have little or no policy regulating network access.

Scott Nursten, managing director of reseller s2s, claimed employee education is paramount.

“Mobile devices are ubiquitous,” he said. “But, even on the enterprise side, people still treat them like mobile phones, though there is often extremely sensitive data on them.”