A quarter of Australian companies which took part in a survey conducted by IT management company ManageEngine felt they were more at risk of a cyber attack now than they were 12 months ago.
The survey covered 152 companies and was conducted by Stollznow Research for ManageEngine.
Twenty-eight percent were of the opinion that they were much more at risk while 43% felt the risk they faced now was more or less the same as a year ago.
Asked about security issues during the last 12 months, 57% reported cyber attacks, data thefts by external parties, or unauthorised access and/or misuse of data by an employee.
{loadposition sam08}Among the companies that had experienced a cyber attack, 76% reported that such incidents had occurred between one and five times. Another 12% reported that attacks had occurred between six and 10 times.
Of those who had experienced unauthorised data access by employees, 59% said this had occurred between one and five times while a further 29% said there had been between six and 10 incidents.
On other aspects of business, the survey found that IT and line of business managers were gaining information and getting involved in each other’s areas of expertise.
Other survey findings:
- Thirty-three percent of respondents said their IT departments were always or regularly involved in business decisions. Another 40% said their IT department was sometimes involved.
- Seventy-eight percent of respondents believed IT managers had a good understanding of their business. Sixty-six percent believe business managers have a good understanding of IT.
- Seventy-four percent of respondents noted that their IT department reported to the board of directors or business owner with regular updates.
- Thirty-nine percent reported that a senior IT professional regularly or always attended board or line of management meetings.
"These results are encouraging as they underline the central role that IT is playing within business and that senior management are aware of this," said Raj Sabhlok, president of ManageEngine.
"Hopefully this strong relationship between senior management and IT teams will allow the companies to respond rapidly and effectively to the issues and opportunities facing them now and in the future."