Security Compliance & Monitoring Suite

Reasons to buy

Security - Why is it important to you and your business?

If you suffer a major breach of security, your business may not recover. If the business does survive, then you may not if it is proven that you or your staff were in any way negligent or are held liable for the lapse in security. It might seem harsh but it does happen, as those who are already serving long jail sentences for breaches of trust and data irregularities will testify.

Over the last 12 months, post Enron, Worldcom, Parmalat etc., there has been a number of studies and surveys conducted to Information Security - and unfortunately it makes uncomfortable reading.

Every two years the department of Trade and Industry sponsors research into information security breaches to help UK companies better understand the risks they face. The last survey shows that as more and more companies come to rely heavily on information systems and greater access is given to remote users, one obvious side-effect is greater exposure to information security users. In fact, security problems have now become a fact of life for all businesses, regardless of size or market sector, and they are not just things that happen to someone else.

94% of businesses reported that they had a security incident last year and the cost of these incidents can be significant - many companies reported costs of more than £500k. Half of all companies and therefore security breaches are potentially more damaging than ever. Consider the consequences to a food manufacturer if recipes were stolen, to an insurance company if customer policy details were compromised or to publicly-quoted companies if inside information were used for personal financial benefit. Without an adequate security policy in place, these things can and do happen.

Companies now spend on average 3% of their IT budget on security, however this is still far short of the reasonable 5%-10% benchmark level that companies should be spending. One of the problems is that security is often seen as an overhead instead of an investment. However if companies begin to weigh up the cost of security breaches against this investment then a different picture will begin to emerge - in fact it could be viewed as a cost saving.

The DTI recommends that you "draw on the right expertise to understand the security threats you face and your legal responsibilities". By using the Security Compliance and Monitoring Suite you will be drawing on years of our combined experience to assist you in following security best practices.

"The battle to contain the information security menace will be a long one, and it is far from won. However, it is not a battle UK businesses can afford to lose." Stephen Timms, MP, Minister of Sate for Energy, e-Commerce and postal services.