Security policies prove inadequate

Firms are exposing themselves to security risks by failing to implement effective policies, say security experts.

A study of 100 British IT directors undertaken by IT services provider GAP indicates that even if firms have drawn up security policies, they were frequently inadequate.

According to the research, one in five firms expose themselves to the risk of virus infections, by not preventing the introduction of external files to their network.

Password control is another area of concern. Over 80 percent of companies said they have password policies, but less than one in 10 of them delete the password of an employee who has left.

Firms need to ensure that their policies are kept up to date and adhered to, in order to protect against threats from criminal attack, or disgruntled former employees stated Simon Paton, managing director of GAP.

"We recommend that a dedicated security role is created within companies," he said.