19 Mar 2010

Data security 'an issue for the private sector'

Businesses in the private sector need to improve their data security protocols as cybercriminals are increasingly targeting these organisations, it has been claimed.

Jens Kirschner, spokesperson for 7safe, said government organisations seem to have grasped the nettle in terms of improving data security. However, the private sector seems to be lagging behind and this could prove costly if criminals are able to infiltrate confidential records and steal information.

He commented: "In the private sector, we see too much evidence of organisations actually falling victim to attacks on their servers."

Mr Kirschner added data breaches are more commonplace than people realise.

He noted that in particular, systems continue to be vulnerable to people hacking in and stealing information and this should be one area where security is watertight.

According to a report by Deloitte, cyber attacks and security breaches are increasing in frequency and sophistication, with discovery usually occurring only after the event, if at all.