How to sell - The danger within

The sheer scale of the security threat presented by employees should not be underestimated. Either knowingly or unknowingly, employees represent the biggest threat to IT systems or data security, and businesses in the UK are not doing enough about the problem because of a mixture of ignorance, skills shortages and a lack of investment. This is a recipe for reseller intervention. According to a joint survey conducted by consultant PwC and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on behalf of Microsoft, Entrust and Computer Associates, the problem of security breaches is far from under control.

The DTI Information Security Breaches Survey 2004 found that 74 per cent of all businesses (94 per cent of large firms) have had a security incident in the past year.

Malicious incidents, such as viruses, unauthorised access, misuse of systems, fraud and theft, rose dramatically with 68 per cent of firms (91 per cent of large ones) suffering at least one such incident in the past year. This is a rise of 44 per cent compared with 2002.

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