New research by RSA Security shows that government regulation is increasingly driving companies to build proper identity management systems.

Over three quarters of the IT directors questioned considered identity management as a priority, and 74 per cent said that government regulation was a driving factor.

But the survey revealed that fewer than one in 10 IT directors could actually define an identity management system.

"This survey clearly highlights that the understanding of identity and access management is patchy at best," said Tim Pickard, vice president of marketing at RSA Security.

"Many UK industries are undergoing fundamental changes to the way they do business, and a network-driven environment no longer reflects how the structure of their business is evolving. The identity of individuals will become key."

More worryingly less than half of the respondents had successfully implemented a single sign-on system, such as passwords, as the most fully implemented part of their security set-up.

The survey highlighted lack of funding as a key obstacle to building more secure networks.

Although over half of IT directors believe that a proper identity management system would save their company money, the main reason for not going ahead was insufficient funds.