Over a third of European businesses are delaying to upgrade their systems with the latest desktop software due to fears of becoming a victim of a cyber attack, says Symantec.
The global security company surveyed 1 400 IT decision-makers in the UK, France, Germany and Italy, revealing that worries over hackers targeting newer software is a major concern for more than a third (35%) of European businesses.
“The over-arching learning from this research is that European businesses are nervous about making the move to new software versions,” says Chad Cleevely, small business manager for Africa at Symantec.
Worries about security and disruption to business has meant that more than two-thirds (72%) of European businesses are still using the Microsoft Windows XP operating platform, while just 15% have upgraded to Vista.
Rather safe
According to Cleevely, a quarter of European businesses (27%) stated they will hold off on upgrading for at least another 12 months. However, German companies are feeling more optimistic, with fewer than one in five (19%) planning to hold off investment.
He adds that UK businesses take a slightly more bullish approach to desktop software upgrades, with a fifth of companies (22%) saying they like to upgrade in order to stay abreast of current technology. However, a further 21% say they prefer to wait for the technology to be proven by others first.
SME security
An IDC study entitled 'European SMBs and security', showed similarities to Symantec's survey. IDC says 30% of small-to-medium-sized enterprises are planning to invest in increased security over the next 12 months.
According to IDC, this is because smaller companies don't have the IT resources or established policies compared to larger enterprises. They are consequently more exposed to security threats, although IDC notes they are starting to recognise security as a priority when they do make their next software upgrade.
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