Websense Survey Finds SMBs Inviting Breaches in Security

Websense Inc. came out with its report on August 27, 2007 saying that the small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) do not take necessary steps to avoid data loss and theft on the Web. This independent survey scrutinized the dangers of the Web-based security threats.

The following figures have been published by the researchers - out of the 450 IT managers and employers surveyed in US, only 46% have software to protect the secret data of their company. 81% of them do not use software to protect the misuse of peer-to-peer applications. 80% protect the use of USB devices. 76% use instant messages cautiously and 47% have installed software to stop unauthorized leakage of data to external sources. About 12% admitted allowing their employees to use Internet despite an internal-net-use policy.

About 20% believe that anti-viruses and firewalls protect them sufficiently. A mere 4% of them pay heed to security updates and ensure daily backup. This means that computers of such businesses are open to security breeches almost 21 days in a month according to Websense.

The Websense's 'SMB State of Security Survey' reveals the general attitude of the employees towards the risks involved. More than 74% of the employees read emails sent to them by unknown sources. 53% of them were found sending emails to wrong senders thus themselves leaking the data. Almost half of them also admitted to have visited adult and porn Websites willingly or by accident.

Steve Kelley, Product Management's Senior Director at Websense, is of the view that the anti-viruses and firewalls are not programmed to stop the emerging Web-based threats which are growing rapidly. He added an example when Websense in February had found out a data-stealing keylogger on the Website of Dolphin Stadium. This happened just before the Super Bowl was played there. The anti-viruses were not updated by the vendors until after the Super Bowl. Kelly said that the SMBs have to take immediate steps to ensure safety from data loss and insure that they stay one step ahead of the hackers. PR Newswire published this statement on August 27, 2007.

Related article: Websense Discovered Malicious Social Networking Spam Campaign

» SPAMfighter News - 9/17/2007