UK Data Security Declines on World Stage

UK Data Security Declines on World Stage

Information security budgets appear to be safe for the year, although the UK could be falling behind many of its rivals on the global stage because IT security companies do not have enough visibility into their environments, according a new study from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
The consultancy firm's annual Global State of information Security Survey (PDF) polled over 7,000 IT support professionals and C-level executives worldwide, and found that only a third of UK firms had an accurate record of where sensitive data is stored, compared with  50 per cent in the US and China.

In addition, half indicated that they did not know how many security incidents their organisation had experienced over the past 12 months, compared to just seven per cent in China and 18 per cent in India.

William Beer, director of PwC's assurance services group, said that Indian companies had invested large sums in security after negative press in the past, which could be seen as improving security capabilities.