There is a surge of spending on security services as the risks of data leakage finally hit home with many Irish businesses.

One of the most prevalent threats comes from within, with many security experts pointing towards disgruntled emplotees (or indeed ex employees) being major threats with regards to data leagake. On the topic of disgruntled ex, or indeed current employees, Eoin Goulding, Managing Director at Integrity Solutions said that over the last number of months they have had an upsurge n their consultancy services as a number of businesses have a freeze on hiring new employees or have had to let key people go and, in turn, "need to review how their networks are protected and managed".

Goulding commented that a lot of their newer deals are based on Managed Service options. He said customers are looking at "really cutting overheads" and reducing capital expenditure in any way they can. Outsourcing security services can cut down on thier total cost of ownership of in-house IT infroastrucure while still having full-time security experts available to take care of networks. Companies are also eager to identify problems and issues as quick as possible, he noted.

Added Goulding, "in terms of solutions there is a real focus on data loss prevention (DLP)", while he also pointed towards patch management solutions as "becoming more high profile" over recent months.

"Companies are keen to strengthen their security posture and correct any weaknesses identified in their infrastructure. Intrusion detection / prevention (IDP) is another solution in the spotlight. Corporate IT departments need to be on their guard at all times, monitoring activity on their network and preventing unauthorised access. IDP solutions will monitor changes in web traffic and pro-actively protects the network from attack when it finds signs of unexpected changes in traffic patterns."

Eoin Goulding picked up on the end point technology trend, saying that "thanks in part to the swine flu and weather last Christmas" they have seen alot more interest in SSL VPN solutions. "We've had a lot of companies with 50 to 100 user licenses who were able to open this up to 1,000 employees during the Christmas freeze and so had no problems carrying on with business from homes around the country. Employees were able to work remotely from their homes with all of the security their office computer provided. Companies, who previously used this exclusively for remote workers, have implemented it across the board, in some cases as a contingency for a worst case scenario, but for other clients it was the additional convenience and flexibility it allowed for on a daily basis that was actually the main advantage."