Companies Feel Secure Against Data Loss But Are Not, New Study Shows

 

Data breaches have been in the crosshairs of corporate security departments for most of this decade.

 

Data loss is a big corporate problem

 

Each year, administrators spend millions of dollars to enhance security measures they believe will keep private, personal information just that – private.

 

Despite their efforts, the loss of data continues at a significant pace among North American corporations, according to a new survey.

 

The survey, from enterprise Strategy Group, found that 56 percent of large corporations suffered at least one data breach in the past year – a percentage higher than in previous studies.

 

Executives believe they are protected, but their businesses frequently are not, said Tom Bain, director of marketing and communications at the research firm. There is a lot of confusion in the market, he said.

 

Equally alarming, said Bain, is that 33 percent of companies admitted they failed a security audit and 42 percent said they failed a Payment Card Industry security audit designed to measure how well they guard credit-card information.

 

Enterprise Security Group surveyed 179 companies with 1,000 or more workers in October and November.