If IT Security Pros Don't Feel Secure, Can Anyone?

Feb. 27, 2007
Small poll indicates that IT security professionals less confident in security of private info

A small poll conducted by California-based IT risk and compliance company nCircle points to what could be sour times ahead for personal data privacy.

Poll respondents were asked the question: "Do you think your personal confidential information is more or less secure than it was 24 months ago?" Some two-thirds (66 percent) of the respondents said they felt less secure. The poll was based on 83 responses, so while it may not be the most statistically inductive of research, it does point to a weakening of confidence in the ability to protect private data.

CEO Abe Kleinfeld of nCircle argued that the weakening confidence was because of organizations taking what he called "a defensive position...which leaves both the data and the organization vulnerable."

The company had previously polled some 130 IT security pros and found that those staffers felt that the legal liability for the loss or breach of personal customer data should not be the IT organization.

Read into that poll a little deeper and you see an emerging "not my problem" mindset accompanied by a general fear regarding loss of privacy, especially when taking into account the myriad of high-profile data losses that have been splashed across the news.

It all begs the question that if those who know the ins and outs of databases and information systems feel less secure and don't feel comfortable accepting the liability of protecting privacy, then what are your businesses' customers and clients supposed to feel?