The majority of UK senior executives expect to suffer a security breach but only 49% of all critical business data is secure, according to research.
The Vanson Bourne survey, commissioned by NTT Com Security, shows the level of risk within large organisations and the value that senior non-IT managers place on data security.
The majority (56%) of UK executives agree their business is likely to suffer a security breach at some point, which rises to 63% on average globally.
Yet a quarter of UK executives do not know how much of their business’ IT budget is spent on data security, which is the highest of any country. More than half of executives (52%) think data security is expensive.
Garry Sidaway, senior vice president at NTT Com Security, said the results provide insight into the minds of non-IT executives about the value they place on the data in their business and whether they feel the information is at risk.
"Unfortunately, security at the board level still tends be associated with data protection and compliance, when in fact securing data properly is absolutely critical to enabling businesses to thrive and survive," he said.
The report reveals that UK executives underestimate the impact of a security breach. Almost a fifth (19%) think there would be no significant impact on their revenue, while 28% said they do not know the potential financial implications.
NTT Com Security commissioned market research company Vanson Bourne to undertake the survey of 800 global decision makers not involved in an IT role.
