Prevention better than cure for SMB IT security - report

Written by James Gardiner

Prevention is better than the cure when it comes to security for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to a new report.

Symantec's survey of SMEs in Australia and New Zealand found that those that suffered data loss were likely to experience this problem in an area where basic protection and preventative measures would have lessened the issue.

Over two-thirds of information loss occurred due to system breakdown or hardware failure, just under half were due to human error and just over a third were the result of out-of-date security solutions and improper protection policies.

"While small and medium-sized businesses [SMBs] clearly appreciate the importance of security, they face many barriers when strengthening their IT security infrastructure," said Steve Martin, SMB director for the Pacific region at Symantec.

He added that staffing, budget and time were often factors hindering firms' security efforts, which suggests that using an IT outsourcing provider could be the way forward.

Meanwhile, a report by Forrester has warned companies considering using cloud computing that they need to scrutinise data security more than they would when using traditional forms of IT outsourcing.