Two-fifths of firms falling to revise security policies to address emerging threats

Businesses in Europe are failing to prepare for emerging security threats, while some firms have failed to reassess their procedures in over three years, according to a recent report from Fortinet.

The survey, which polled 300 firms in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Benelux nations, found that as many as 40 per cent of organisations had not appraised their IT security structure in the past month.

Furthermore, a shocking 16 per cent of respondents had no security strategy in place at all, or had not examined their IT security approach in more than three years.

Many companies are having to accomodate a range of smartphones and tablets as employees look to introduce personal devices into the enterprise network, but experts have long warned of the risks.

This rise in consumerisation means that firms will need to re-examine their approach to security and better plan for the introduction of new hardware, according to Fortinet vice president of international sales and support Patrice Perche.

"Given the remarkable pace of cloud IT adoption and the rise of tablet PCs and smartphones for corporate IT use, it is critical for organisations to regularly review their IT security strategy," she said.

"In that sense, those companies that have not done so in a year or more expose themselves to greater risks."

However, Fortinet found that even companies that do plan for the use of mobile devices are leaving themselves vulnerable to attacks.

Some 60 per cent of respondents reported that their company limits mobile use to devices enabled with security policy controls, while 21 per cent leave staff to update and maintain security protections on their own device.

Fortinet's report comes as the web is becoming increasingly dangerous for mobile users. Malware writers have stepped up the development of malware for mobile platforms such as Android.