Press Release Archive

Cisco research paints positive picture for the security market as Infosec approaches

LONDON, UK, April 19, 2006 -- Research announced today by Cisco Systems® paints a more encouraging picture of the security market than one might expect to see following the growth in incidents and sophistication of attacks over recent years. According to the research conducted in the UK, a clear majority (72%) of security professionals feel that their organization is more secure than it was 12 months ago.

“It is very encouraging to see that, despite ongoing reports of new threats and breaches, businesses across all sectors are feeling better protected,” comments Paul King, Senior Security Advisor at Cisco Systems. “The security industry is clearly making progress and moving forward.”

The research, carried out by Vanson Bourne across 100 chief security officers (CSOs) and IT directors working within a range of vertical sectors, provides insight into the views and opinions of those responsible for securing UK businesses from the plethora of ongoing threats.

While IT departments have long complained that their board of directors do not appreciate how mission critical the network and its security have become, the survey also found that only 23% of respondents felt that security is still not recognized as a board room level issue.

In addition, IT departments have traditionally lacked the resources to take a strategic approach to security rather than simply fixing problems as they occur. The research suggests that businesses are no longer on their back foot in the fight against security threats - with only 11% of respondents taking a ‘reactive only’ approach to security.

Furthermore, businesses appear to be putting in place contingency plans to ensure business continuity in the event of a disaster. Respondents have contingency plans in place for power failure (96%), fire (95%), loss of data (93%), physical access to buildings (86%) and flooding (80%).

Businesses also seem to be making a concerted effort to address one of the often overlooked areas in their security process - their employees. The vast majority of respondents have extensive IT security training in place such as acceptable usage policies (92%), email usage policies (85%), password policies (81%) and training in the need for backups (59%).

“It looks like businesses have recognized the importance of implementing comprehensive security strategies and are beginning to anticipate what might be around the corner,” continues Paul King. “This trend is likely to continue as next generation security technologies become easier to implement and manage, enabling security staff to concentrate on improving the security of their systems and investigating incidents.”

Cisco Systems will be on stand 640 at Infosecurity Europe 2006 (April 25th - 27th) where it will be showcasing its latest products including Cisco's new Security Management suite, its enhanced Network Admission Control solutions and the latest version of Cisco Security Agent, Cisco's innovative intrusion prevention software (IPS). Paul King, Senior Security Advisor, is presenting a seminar on “How to stay secure in a network without perimeters” at 2pm, April 26th.