UK Firms Gloomy On Security Spending

September 15, 2010

The firm's eighth annual Global State of Information Security Survey found that just 31 per cent of UK companies plan to increase spending on information security over the next year, compared to 52 per cent of global respondents.

However, the UK number may not be as low as it first appears, as the global figure is likely to have been boosted by huge investment from Asian firms, according to William Beer, director of the OneSecurity practice at PwC.

"We've seen a lot of investment in that region because firms there are recognising that their whole reputation is built on trust and securing sensitive data," he explained.

The report also highlighted a heartening shift in the reporting channel of the chief information security officer (CISO) towards key decision makers such as the chief executive and chief financial officer (CFO) rather than the chief information officer.

This year, 36 per cent of UK CISOs report to the chief executive, an increase of 13 per cent on 2007, while 15 per cent report to the CFO, an increase of 36 per cent on the 2007 figures.

"This is very reassuring because it's a definite recognition from business leaders that security needs to be dealt with," said Beer. "The penny's beginning to drop. It's not just about technology, but people and processes too."

Rather more surprisingly, UK security chiefs appeared to show a highly sceptical attitude to Web 2.0 and social networking tools.

Just a third of those surveyed had implemented the necessary technologies to support these tools, compared to 60 per cent globally.

Beer explained that this figure could be so low because the first course of action for many CISOs is to block such technologies outright, before deciding whether there is a business case for supporting their secure use within the enterprise.

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