Nearly seven out 10 IT managers believe that data breach disclosure should be compulsory in the UK, according to a survey by Secure Computing.

The security firm polled 103 directors at this year's InfoSec security show in London in April.

Over 80 per cent of respondents said that data leaks by insiders, whether deliberate or accidental, is at the top of their list of security woes.

Only 17 per cent cited external threats posed by cyber-criminals, such as spammers and hackers, as more dangerous.

A third of respondents said that they had allocated budget to strengthening internal security and auditing.

The issue of legally enforcing data disclosures is contentious in Europe, as many believe that self-regulation is sufficient.

It has been suggested that the damage to an organisation's reputation if it suffered a data breach and did not inform customers would far outweigh the consequences of revealing the loss upfront.