New Survey Reveals Apathy in IT Security Strategy
HostReview.com
Wednesday, October 29, 2003; 12:00 AM
Heverlee, Belgium, October 29, 2003 - Ninety per cent of businesses identify
theft or modification of information as a major threat to their operations,
yet only 45 per cent of these companies have formal security policies
in place, new research will reveal at the 30th Telindus International
Symposium.
The survey commissioned by Telindus, the leading pan-European network
solutions and services provider, will underline the increasingly critical
role that integrators play in ensuring a globally uniform approach to
security methodology, consultancy, services and technology.
The research will also reveal a significant deficiency in the levels of
administration of safety policies, with 80 per cent of companies agreeing
that log file analysis and forensics are the weakest link in any information
system.
Ronald Everaert, CEO of Telindus, said: "In order to be able to respond
to a growing need for security, a organization's IT department need to
diversify its competencies and regroup a number of different profiles
into one team. In an increasingly complex and heterogeneous technology
environment, it is vital that coherence and security of the production
chain is guaranteed, from the network as a support of information transmission
to the applications and systems.
"The message here is clear - integrators must adopt a global approach
to methodology, consultancy, services, and technologies. Seventy per cent
of the companies interviewed agreed that IT has a heavy or critical impact
on their chain of production, yet only 45 per cent have a formal security
policy in place."
Mr Everaert
added: "In general, organizations identify security as important
to their business, yet some of the smaller regional players have been
slower to implement systems to ensure the safety of their information
systems. However, companies with a strong need for confidentiality - such
as banks, financial instutions and the high technology industry - have
invested heavily in security and are reaping the ROI benefits."
The survey finds that while technology is important - with vendors like
Cisco and Check Point currently positioned as market leaders in terms
of security technology - organizations today expect much more than a product
related competence and an integrator must add value by providing a high
level of expertise.
The Nineties saw an expansion in the demand for peripheral access to information
systems, which led to 85 per cent of companies surveyed to invest heavily
in firewall infrastructure. Viral problems are also a priority, with more
than 90 per cent of respondents investing in anti-virus systems and protection.
However, in a large percentage of cases, firewall and anti-virus systems
are administered on an ad hoc basis rather than being systematically controlled,
which can lead to maintenance problems.
The Telindus security survey was conducted between February and May 2003
with 200 decision makers from 200 French-based organisations, of which
82 per cent have a Pan-European or global presence.
The 30th Annual Telindust International Symposium has broken all previous
attendance records as nearly 1,700 delegates from all over Europe and
as far afield at China, South Africa and the United States gather at the
event which opens tomorrow (30 October) at the Brussels Expo, Belgium.
A total of 32 companies are exhibiting at the event, many of whom are
global leaders in the IT and communications industry.
For further information about the Telindus International Symposium, please
visit: www.telindussymposium.com
About Telindus
The publicly listed Telindus Group (Euronext Brussels, ticker TEL) is
a one-stop service partner, solution provider and manufacturer for fixed
and mobile networks.
Telindus,
the Integrator, has extensive expertise, encompassing consulting, integration
and managed services, in all areas of modern telecommunications applications
and technologies for local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks
(MAN), wide area networks (WAN), virtual private networks (VPN), network access and security, surveillance and networked
applications.
Telindus is a manufacturer of broadband access and video surveillance
solutions. Combined with a large networking product portfolio from strategic
suppliers and partners, Telindus is the best route to leading edge technology
and best of breed products and services for both operators and enterprises.
Since its foundation in 1969, Telindus has made significant investments
in establishing a solid footprint of networking and security expertise
in Europe and beyond. With a full operational presence in as many as 15
countries across Europe and South East Asia and employing almost 2.300
people, Telindus provides customers with both business and technology
focused solutions. Telindus' own products are distributed by an extensive
network of agents across the globe.
Telindus has its corporate headquarters at Heverlee, close to the university
city of Leuven, Belgium. For more information on Telindus' networking
solutions and services, please visit www.telindus.com.
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