Johannesburg, 06 Jun 2006
Fifty percent of companies participating in a recent survey have experienced security breaches in the last 12 months, with 50% of these being internal attacks and a large number resulting from the use of removable media.
This is the outcome of a survey conducted by Deloitte, focusing on the technology, media and telecoms (TMT) industry. The survey consisted of 150 respondents, from 30 countries, with 60% being from the Europe, Middle East and Africa.
This is the first time Deloitte has focused on security in the TMT industry, having concentrated previous surveys on the financial sector.
"Although the financial industry is still experiencing greater attacks, like phishing, the numbers resulting in this latest survey are disturbing considering the profile of a TMT company," says Kris Budnik, director of the Security Services Group at Deloitte.
The targets are different, Budnik explains, with financial institutions being attacked for money, and ICT companies being assaulted for information. "Information is less tangible and, because of this, many do not even know they have been compromised or feel the impact directly," he adds.
A growing trend in the TMT industry is the use of removable media to steal sensitive information, with the largest memory sticks now being able to hold up to 64GB, the survey shows.
Tech and behaviour
"The use of removable media such as memory sticks, handhelds and laptops was highlighted by the respondents as being primary for data leakage," explained Budnik.
Prevention is not easy, Budnik explains. He advises using a combination of technology and behaviour: "We need to educate the user, raise levels of exposure, and use technology."
The user`s discipline in implementing security measures should not be taken for granted, however, and this discipline is crucial to the technology being effective, he says.
"There is emerging and existing technology that can be used to combat this problem, such as encryption mechanisms, but the biggest challenge of all is setting up and maintaining these measures," he concludes.