New survey studies what e-mail continuity measures UK companies are taking

From the convergence of viruses and spam to denial-of-service attacks, phishing, spyware and other forms of identity theft, the range of e-mail attacks on business is increasing rapidly. Businesses must protect themselves comprehensively from such threats as they pose significant risks to business continuity, productivity, and the privacy and integrity of information - threatening company credibility, reputation & competitiveness.

MessageLabs commissioned an independent survey to investigate how ready UK businesses are to counter the array of new, sophisticated threats.

The results are as follows:

Q1. Which of the following security threats do you feel your business is not adequately protected from?

Spam - 34%
Virus outbreaks - 11%
Denial-of-Service attacks - 18%
Online fraud scams (phishing, identity theft, etc) - 36%
Spyware - 54%
Remote Access Trojans - 31%

Q2. Do you have a formal policy process in place for determining your vulnerability to email attack and security requirements?

Yes - 59%
No - 41%

Q3. And do you have a formal process in place for regularly measuring the performance and effectiveness of your current email security policy?

Yes - 43%
No - 57%

Q4. What currently are the key components of your email security policy for addressing email attack?

Anti Virus Software - 94%
Anti Virus Scanning Service - 43%
Anti Spam Software - 57%
Anti Spam Scanning Service - 32%
Content Filtering Software - 50%
Content Scanning Service - 25%
Other - 7%

Q5. Which of the following elements are included in your business case to justify expenditure on e-mail security?

Impact on IT bandwidth - 32%
Business productivity - 54%
Confidentiality of information - 56%
Ensuring compliance with legislation - 38%
Cost of clean up from infection - 64%
Reputation / Brand Protection - 30%
Ensuring reliability of communication - 49%
Archiving and protection for HR & Legal use - 19%

Q6. Of these, which would you say is the most significant?

Impact on IT bandwidth - 4%
Business productivity - 29%
Confidentiality of information - 27%
Ensuring compliance with legislation - 6%
Cost of clean up from infection - 16%
Reputation / Brand Protection - 6%
Ensuring reliability of communication - 11%
Archiving and protection for HR & Legal use - 1%

Q7. Of these, which would you say is the least significant?

Impact on IT bandwidth - 41%
Business productivity - 6%
Confidentiality of information - 1%
Ensuring compliance with legislation - 5%
Cost of clean up from infection - 7%
Reputation / Brand Protection - 13%
Ensuring reliability of communication - 4%
Archiving and protection for HR & Legal use - 23%

Q8. Have you ever experienced a human resources or Legal case in your company in which e-mail content has been a crucial factor in the evidence?

Yes - 16%
No - 84%

Q9. How aware are you of legislation requiring the archiving of e-mail content?

Very aware - 16%
Aware - 35%
Not very - 37%
Not at all aware - 12%

Q10. Overall would you consider your business to have a joined-up / holistic approach to e-mail security?

Yes - 66%
No - 34%

Q11. Given the increasing business risk and burden associated with protecting and managing e-mail, do you already or would you consider outsourcing your e-mail security and management?

Already outsource - 16%
Yes, would consider - 21%
No, will always keep in-house - 63%

•Date: 29th April 2005 • Region: UK •Type: Article •Topic: IT continuity
Rate this article or make a comment - click here