Blog for "the-enabler" of the letsnet.org network

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Failing security threatens FTSE100
firms

Will Sturgeon
4 September 2003
Shareholders in some of the UK's most prestigious
companies may be
horrified to hear that only 16 per cent of FTSE100
firms employ a
properly qualified, dedicated security specialist to
safeguard their
systems from cyber attack.
These findings have caused one IT training
organisation to hit out at
what it calls "boardroom apathy" regarding the issue
of security, with
too many CEOs adopting an 'it couldn't happen to us'
attitude.
Despite a recent spate of high-profile virus attacks,
and the constant
threat posed by hackers, companies still appear to be
leaving a lot to
chance - a stance which Robert Chapman, co-founder of
The Training
Camp, who conducted the survey, says displays a
worrying level of
"ignorance".
Chapman told silicon.com: "It's really worrying and it
should
certainly be worrying for these companies and those
who are investing
in them. You would never hear about a large company
which doesn't have
a designated legal specialist or accountant, but
security is something
which companies don't seem to take as seriously as
other issues."
Chapman also expressed concern about the limited
take-up of the 'gold
standard' security qualification - the Certified
Information Systems
Security Professional, or CISSP - within FTSE100
companies.
"I don't know if this is just a case of UK plc lagging
behind again,
but in the US the position of chief security officer
is now far more
common than in the UK and CISSP qualifications are
also more common."
"It is stunning that a large number of FTSE100
companies don't employ
a dedicated professional with the right background and
top-level
accredited certification," he added.
Chapman warned that it will probably take a "fall guy"
- such as a big
bank or insurance company - to be hit by a major
breach before UK
companies "sit up and take notice".

http://silicon.com/news/500013/1/5876.html
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