UK lags behind in security vigilance
Survey reveals firms' lax attitudes to viruses and spam
UK businesses are failing to manage their IT security correctly, according to a pan-European study of corporate attitudes to viruses and spam.
The survey found only 39 per cent of UK firms had updated their anti-virus software in the past week, while two-fifths had not updated in the past month.
UK firms were shown to be the least vigilant, while Spanish firms were the most security aware. This may be because Spanish law requires them to maintain IT security systems.
Jack Clark, technical consultant at McAfee Security, which commissioned the report from market researcher Taylor Nelson Sofres, claimed the results will provide a real boost for the managed security industry.
While many residential users were happy to buy software that updated itself automatically, most businesses preferred to do the job themselves, Clark explained. But he claimed that the survey had shown that this approach may not be working.
"Managed anti-virus adds an extra layer to security," he said. "It doesn't rely on harassed IT managers to perform updates. If companies can't invest the time in security then someone should do it for them."
Sarah Carter, sales director at VAR HarrierZeuros, which offers managed service provision, said the sector had seen huge growth in the past six months "as purse strings have been loosened".
"Another driver is that some of our clients are working on stable platforms and don't trust vendors' patches until they've been tested extensively," she added.
"We run managed services and supply people on-site in certain firms. It's all about mitigating risk."
The survey noted the lack of overall awareness of the types of threats firms face. Almost a third admitted that they did not know that personal information could be stolen and used against them. Spain and Germany were the best informed in this respect.
The survey covered 500 firms in the UK, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and The Netherlands.