Computer security company McAfee has aid that a mjority of IT Enterprise security managers belive that data security in their organisations is stronger than it actually is.
McAfee has released the results of a survey conducted by Gabriel Consulting Group (GCG), an independent analyst firm. The results show a serious disconnect between security perceptions and reality among IT Enterprise security managers, said McAfee.
The 2011 Data Center Security Survey focused on security issues among 147 enterprise data centre mangers responsible for data centres of all sizes.
GCG found that the majority of respondents (60%) reported that management believes security is stronger than it actually is, while only 22% reported that management is aware of their company’s true security preparedness.
GCG principal analyst Dan Olds said it is astounding that almost two-thirds of the respondents say that their management is in the dark about their true security status.
"This is something that should cause a lot of thought both in the executive suite and in the data centre. Management needs to seek out the truth when it comes to IT security, and data centre management needs to be frank and honest when discussing the strengths and weaknesses of their security mechanisms. Obviously, it’s far better to discuss potential security issues before they’re exposed by a breach," Olds said.
Other key findings from the GCG report include: nearly half of the respondents reported that they are constantly finding new security holes; more than 40% of respondents feel that their organisation’s security pace isn’t keeping up with threats; approximately 70% of respondents are skeptical of public cloud security; and 40 % of respondents report that day-to-day security does not conform to the standards required by their official polices.
The report also found that although nearly half of the respondents feel that virtualisation and private clouds pose a unique security challenge, the majority of respondents are using the same tools to secure both physical and virtualised systems.
McAfee Network Security vice-president Greg Brown said the move to virtualised data centre requires organizations to consider their approach to security early in the design cycle.
"Using network and system security solutions that are optimized for virtualised environments ensures continuity of data centre operations, without interfering with performance. McAfee’s solutions provide seamless security management across conventional and virtualised data center resources," Brown said.
