Firms misjudge unified comms risk, poll suggests

Posted by Jessie Richards

New research has found that companies are underestimating the security risks associated with unified communications, which may show the need for IT outsourcing.

A survey by FaceTime Communications revealed that 57 per cent of IT professionals think the communications innovation presents no or little risk to their computing infrastructure, infosecurity-magazine.com reported.

However, the poll suggested that firms appear to have little knowledge of what constitutes unified communications, as 89 per cent of respondents claimed instant messaging - a common element of the systems - poses some or great risk.

Nick Sears, FaceTime's vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said: "If organisations want to stay in control of their networks consideration must also be given to the security, management and compliance of other enterprise and public communication applications."

The research also showed that 34 per cent of companies have some form of unified communications network, increasing from 29 per cent last year, the website revealed.

Mark McLaughlin, chief executive of Verisign, recently told BBC News that hackers are using increasingly sophisticated attacks when attempting to breach security systems, highlighting the importance of IT outsourcing.