UK IT Managers Feel Secure Against Data Leaks, But Less Than Half Use Encryption, Says Check Point Survey

Survey of public and private UK organisations shows under 50% have deployed data encryption, and less than 40% have any endpoint security

-- 65% say HMRC leak will not change their company IT spending priorities

-- Just 48% of respondents have encryption deployed in their organisation

-- Only 39% have any endpoint security deployed on PCs, laptops and mobile devices

30 November 2007 -- 65% of IT managers and senior IT staff in UK companies say the recent leak of Child Benefit data by HMRC will not change their IT spending priorities, yet less than half have a data encryption solution in place. This is one of the key findings of new research by Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet and a leader in data protection and encryption solutions.

The email survey, conducted during the week of the HMRC data leak, showed that the majority of respondents feel their companies are secure against the risk of data leaks. Just 11% of respondents said that HMRC’s highly-publicised loss of CDs, containing personal details of 25M UK citizens, would influence their IT spending priorities.

However, the survey revealed that the organisations surveyed are still running the risk of data leaks and breaches similar to HMRC. Less than half of respondents (48%) said their organisation had an encryption solution to protect sensitive data. 40% of the sample said their company did not have encryption, and a worrying 12% did not know if encryption was in place.

The research also showed that business PCs, laptops and mobile devices are also vulnerable to threats from malware, and attempts to hijack remote network connections. Just 39% of respondents said their company had an endpoint security solution, to protect PCs against unauthorised access or malware. 37% did not have endpoint security, and 25% were unable to say if they had or not.

However, when asked if their organisation’s IT security policy includes data protection issues such as the use of USB drives for transporting data, 73% of the sample said it did. According to Check Point, this highlights the fact that corporate security policies are not being enforced by solutions.

Nick Lowe, Check Point’s regional director for Northern Europe said: “It’s worrying that a majority of the companies surveyed feel they are safe against data loss. Over half of the survey sample does not have the basic security measures in place, to stop the type of employee behaviour that caused the leak at HMRC.

“Securing any kind of sensitive data must be automated, so that employees cannot alter or stop the security processes. Organisations have to protect their data, themselves and their employees against the risks of possible data leaks, and automation is the only way to do that.”

The survey also showed that companies strongly agree (85%) with mandatory notification of affected parties in the event of a data breach, as is the law in the US. Just 9% disagreed. 36% of respondents thought immediate dismissal was appropriate for parties causing data leaks on the scale of the recent HMRC loss.

Check Point’s comprehensive range of Pointsec data encryption and port / media management solutions provides complete data protection on PCs, laptops, mobile devices and removable media. Using an efficient blend of full disk encryption, access control, port management and removable media encryption, these solutions deliver unmatched security for an organisation’s sensitive data.

The Check Point email survey gauged the opinions of 140 senior IT staff, IT managers and IT directors across a range of UK companies from both the public and private sector.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd
http://www.checkpoint.com

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Press contact Craig Coward/Luke Ford
Context Public Relations
01625 511966
www.contextpr.co.uk

About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com) is a leader in securing the Internet. The company is a market leader in the worldwide enterprise firewall, personal firewall, data security and VPN markets. Check Point’s PURE focus is on IT security with its extensive portfolio of network security, data security and security management solutions. Through its NGX platform, Check Point delivers a unified security architecture for a broad range of security solutions to protect business communications and resources for corporate networks and applications, remote employees, branch offices and partner extranets. The company also offers market leading data security solutions through the Pointsec product line, protecting and encrypting sensitive corporate information stored on PCs and other mobile computing devices. Check Point's award-winning ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite and additional consumer security solutions protect millions of consumer PCs from hackers, spyware and data theft. Extending the power of the Check Point solution is its Open Platform for Security (OPSEC), the industry's framework and alliance for integration and interoperability with "best-of-breed" solutions from hundreds of leading companies. Check Point solutions are sold, integrated and serviced by a network of Check Point partners around the world and its customers include 100 percent of Fortune 100 companies and tens of thousands of businesses and organizations of all sizes.

This release was published on openPR.