Human error has become the biggest security concern for IT directors, according to new research from gateway security firm Secure Computing.

The vendor surveyed IT managers in April and again in October and found that, although 35 per cent said that employee fraud was their biggest fear six months ago, this had been replaced by employee error, notching up 39 per cent of respondents.

"There have been quite a few public breaches and issues of best practice and data control in the news since April, and the government and FBI reports show a similar trend towards a focus on insider threats," said Secure Computing product manager Mike Smart.

"Business focus on this emerging threat is important but the risk may be that they lose focus from the external threats, which are still important."