- Integrity Solutions survey of IT and security professionals highlights latest security threats
- 43% believe that online shopping at work poses a threat to their organisation as Christmas approaches
- Major security concerns for 2012 are seen to be data loss (61%), personal mobile devices in the workplace (48%), cloud security (38%), inappropriate use of social media (25%), and compliance and regulatory issues (25%)

Integrity Solutions, Ireland’s largest IT security specialist, today announced the results of a survey which focused on the latest security threats for Irish businesses. The survey reveals that more than half of Irish organisations (51%) now place restrictions on the use of social media websites in the workplace.

Almost one in four (24%) block all social media sites, such as Facebook and YouTube, at work. 27% allow access to social media sites with some restrictions, and just under a half (49%) allow access to all social media sites with no restrictions.

The survey was carried out with IT and security professionals at the recent IRISS (Irish Reporting and Information Security Service) annual conference which took place in November.*

The survey provided a number of interesting results, including 43% who said that online shopping by employees at work poses a threat to their organisation with Christmas approaching. These threats include identity theft, phishing, viruses and malware.

12% of respondents admitted that their organisation’s IT security has been compromised by employees accessing external online sites.

Looking ahead to 2012, the largest security concern is data loss and leakage with 61% of respondents highlighting this as a major issue. Almost half (48%) are concerned by the security implications caused by the proliferation of personal mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets, being used in the workplace. Other key security concerns are cloud security (38%), inappropriate use of social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube (25%), and compliance and regulatory commitments (25%).
 
Just 46% of respondents were aware of all the personal devices being used by their organisation for work-related activities. In addition, more than a quarter (26%) said they don’t have policies and tools in place to govern accessing or storing of sensitive data on mobile devices in their workplace.

Despite the ongoing recession, IT security budgets in Ireland will primarily either remain the same or increase in 2012. Of those respondents that know what their IT security budget will be next year, 40% said it will increase, 49% said it will remain the same, and just 11% said it will decrease.

Eoin Goulding, managing director, Integrity Solutions, comments on the results:

“In recent years, we have seen a huge increase in the use of social media and personal mobile devices in the Irish workplace. While it’s understandable that employees want to keep up with news by logging on to Facebook in the office or using their personal smart phones for work-related activities, we still have to ensure that their employer’s business is fully protected from the many online and mobile security threats that exist.

“While many Irish businesses are now choosing to restrict access to social media websites, this often isn’t ideal because communications via social media are becoming increasingly necessary in the modern business world.

“With Christmas fast approaching, it also appears that many Irish businesses are worried about the security implications of employees shopping for gifts online at work. There are still many e-commerce and online retail sites that aren’t completely secure and this could lead to a host of security issues being transferred back to the employee’s desktop. This needs to be managed effectively.

“Looking at the major security headaches for 2012, it’s no surprise to see data loss and leakage leading the way. With a number of high profile data loss incidents for public and private sector organisations in Ireland in recent times, Irish businesses are acutely aware of the damage they can cause their business.

“Despite the myriad of security threats that exist for Irish businesses at present, it’s important that organisations are not paralysed by fear. By putting the right security policies and tools in place, then the dangers created by cyber criminals can be minimised or avoided completely.”

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* The survey was carried out in November 2011 in Dublin at the IRISS (Irish Reporting and Information Security Service) annual conference. 84 IT and security professionals were interviewed.