Businesses are increasingly coming under threat of attack from both inside the organisation and outside. It is estimated that UK businesses alone lose £21bn a year to cybercrime. With this in mind, independent IT security service provider SecureData has today launched independent research which identifies how businesses are struggling to manage their Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems, leaving them vulnerable to security attacks, data breaches, and compliancy issues.

London: Independent IT security service provider SecureData, has announced the launch of new independent research entitled ‘Empty battlements – enemy inside the gates’. The research reveals that businesses are struggling to effectively manage their Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems, which is leaving them vulnerable to security attacks, data breaches, and compliancy issues.

Key findings include:

· 62% of respondents' businesses have an internal system as their IT central logging system

· The biggest challenge faced by 59% of IT managers with regard to IT logs and systems is having the time / resource availability required to regularly monitor logs for suspicious behaviour

· 43% of respondents see the ability of their business to detect internal and external threats, such as the latest zero-day vulnerabilities, as a high risk IT security challenge

· 42% of respondents believe that managing multiple systems (network, Windows server, Unix, security) with different teams supporting each and controlling logs (i.e. no single point of control policies) is a high risk IT security challenge

· 40% of respondents have serious concerns about their businesses ability to report on internal systems and the time it takes to analyse data and logs from systems

Etienne Greeff, Managing Director at SecureData, commented “Businesses are clearly struggling to stay on top of the management, reporting and analysis of their Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems. Rather than fire-fighting the situation, businesses should be seeking the support of an outsourced solution, so they meet compliancy standards and reduce the risk of security attacks on their data”.

SecureData commissioned a Vanson Bourne Omnibus survey of 100 IT managers in large UK enterprises (more than 1,000 employees) across the financial services, manufacturing, retail, distribution/transport and commercial sectors