More than two in three companies (65 percent) are unable to analyse the data they collect according to a recent global study conducted by Gemalto.
The study revealed only half (54 percent) of companies knew where they stored their sensitive data, the Dutch digital security company found.
More than two-thirds of organisations (68 percent) admitted that they did not carry out all procedures in line with data protection laws such as GDPR.
The findings came from the fifth annual Data Security Confidence Index, which surveyed 1,050 IT decision makers and 10,500 consumers globally.
Jason Hart, Vice President and CTO of Data Protection at Gemalto highlighted that the British companies could fall behind to their global counterparts.
Hart said: “With the UK falling behind European and global counterparts, British organisations could soon find themselves being outmanoeuvred by more agile competitors, offering better solutions and services thanks to their ability to protect and analyse data.”
In the index, it found that businesses ability to analyse data collection was varied as Australia (55 percent) and India (47 percent) were the top two countries in the world at using data they had collected.
The study also found nine in 10 global organisations agreed that effective data analysis gave them a competitive edge, despite one in five Benelux (20 percent) and British (19 percent) companies being able to do so.
When it came to unauthorised users accessing corporate networks, the UK was least likely to access the network at 46 percent compared with Australia (86 percent).
UK businesses were most concerned at 24 percent to be extremely confident to keep their data secure from hackers accessing their network.
Gemalto’s Hart added: “This lack of foresight and trust in their ability to use and secure the data, is giving others a march on them and organisations must step up to be able to thrive on a global stage.”
