18 January, 2008

[ Johannesburg, 18 January 2008 ] - Local companies are worried about security, but their spend remains low, according to a recent Comztek and McAfee survey.

The study was conducted late in 2007 and involved a total 418 respondents, the majority representing SME information security solutions providers from across SA. The survey revealed that South African businesses realise the importance of preventative measures when it comes to protecting their data integrity from internal and external threats.

Almost all the respondents' customers, 95%, were interested in stopping security breaches at
the gateway, before they enter their environment. The same number attested to being concerned about the high levels of spam and spyware that have hit SA in recent years.

External threats were not the only concern identified by the respondents' customers, the survey
showed, as internal threats, mainly from staff members, were also acknowledged as an area of
concern.

Ninety percent of the respondents confirmed their customers were concerned about the abuse
of bandwidth by employees, and were interested in tools that would assist them in the enforcement of security policies.

However, of the 418 surveyed organisations, more than 70% said their customers allocated less
than 15% of their total IT budget to security. These companies still viewed price as the most important consideration when it came to purchasing security solutions, opting for the cheaper solutions vailable on the market. Product functionality and features came in at a close second as a purchasing consideration, while distributor and vendor support ranked the lowest at influencing the purchasing decision.

For the solution providers, 75% revealed that the ability to manage their customers' security
concerns remotely was the most important aspect of a security solution. With vehicle traffic
congestion continuing its disruptive trend in SA, remote access to mission-critical solutions will
soon be a requirement for the majority of local businesses.