Security spasms at small firms?

MUMBAI: Tokyo-based Antivirus and Internet content security firm Trend Micro, Inc., has released findings from a study, which reveals that end users, particularly in smaller companies, encounter malware more often.






The findings, especially disquieting for resource-strapped organizations with little or no IT support, underscore the need to raise the priority of security measures and ensure automated multi-threat protection from new and emerging threats.





According to the study by Trend Micro, different threats cause varying degrees of concern around the world. Spyware, for example, is much more likely to be encountered by US end users than those in Germany and Japan, particularly in smaller organizations. Of those surveyed, 46 percent of respondents from small and medium-sized US organizations encountered spyware within three months leading up to the study.





In Japan, respondents were more concerned with spam. Many said anti-spam protection was insufficient. This was especially the case for Japanese end users from small and medium-sized organizations, where nearly three out of four workers felt spam protection was poor. 





Similarly, 47 percent of end users surveyed in German small and medium businesses said they noticed growing incidents of spam in the past three months. In addition, 57 percent of respondents believed that phishing attacks -- often launched via spam -- had increased within the same timeframe.





Overall, the study indicated that organizations lacking IT departments are clearly experiencing growing encounters with security threats. For respondents from small and medium businesses that have IT support, 38 percent in the United States, 30 percent in Japan, and 44 percent in Germany said they had contacted IT about a security concern or breach within the past three months.





“Encounters with security threats are rising faster in smaller organizations, but these same organizations are restricted by time, cost, and available resources. Whether they have an IT organization or not, these businesses need solutions that make their lives easier, where security protection and threat prevention can be automated,” said Steve Quane, general manager of Trend Micro's SMB operations.





The survey was conducted online in July 2005. More than 1,200 corporate end users from business organizations in the US, Germany, and Japan responded to the survey. Companies classified as small- to medium-sized for this study comprised less than 500 employees in Germany and the United States and less than 250 in Japan.





-CyberMedia News