Study Shows Canadians SMBs At Risk for Security Breaches
In an increasingly wired world, data security is becoming a necessity for businesses to operate successfully. However, according to a recent survey by Primus Business Services, which is a a PTGi company, over half of Canadian small and medium-sized businesses are not adequately protected from security breaches and not taking steps to become better protected.
Be forewarned: the numbers and insights shown are not pretty.
While most of the businesses polled agreed that the security and integrity of their business data was of vital importance, the amount of money that these businesses revealed that they spent on protecting their data security proved otherwise.
Two-thirds of the businesses polled revealed that they spend less than 10 percent of their budget on data security. The sad numbers continued with 74 per cent saying that their companies did not have secure off-site storage for critical business data and 72 per cent revealing that their data isn’t monitored or managed on a 24x7 basis.
Further questioning by the study revealed that most of the businesses had significant apprehensions about using advanced security systems such as the cloud, citing fears that the study attributed to ignorance or misconceptions about cloud computing.
The study also showed that two-thirds (63%) of the businesses polled have not worked with an IT security firm to audit their security practices, a measure that would clarify issues and provide solutions.
Only one in ten businesses are hosting their data in the cloud, showing that cloud computing advocates have a long way to go in convincing business people of its safety and effectiveness.
RELATED ARTICLES
Modern Data Centres, a Fit for Your Business?
Canadian Computing Forecast-Partially Cloud-y
Telecommuting May Cause Security Risks for Companies
Read the latest Business Review Canada!
A. J. Byers, Executive Vice President of Primus Business Services, said in a press release that IT decision makers continue to question cloud computing due to concerns of lack of control and misperceptions related to data security. According to Byers, cloud computing actually offers greater protection than what most companies are deploying in their offices today.
“Our public and private cloud computing platforms have been designed with enterprise grade security, failover, and disaster recovery technologies that are far more advanced than the standard firewall and server protection that most small and mid-market companies are investing in to protect both their own, and customer data.”
Check back tomorrow to read Byer’s suggestions for what to look for in cloud computing partners and services.
For more information on Primus Business Services and the PrimusCloud™ suite of services, please visit http://www.primustel.ca/en/business
About Primus Canada Business Services
Primus Canada Business Services is a leading national data centre and managed services solutions provider, offering services that include virtual storage and security, disaster recovery and cloud computing, voice, and IP connectivity solutions. Primus Canada Business Services owns and manages eight world-class, state-of-the-art data centres across Canada. Primus Canada Business Services is a division of Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. Visit www.primuspbs.ca for more information.
About PTGi
PTGi (Primus Telecommunications Group, Incorporated) is a leading provider of advanced communication solutions, including broadband Internet, traditional and IP voice, data, mobile services, collocation, hosting, and outsourced managed services to business and residential customers in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Brazil. PTGi is also one of the leading international wholesale service providers to telecommunications carriers worldwide. PTGi owns and operates its own global network of next-generation IP soft switches, media gateways, hosted IP/SIP platforms, broadband infrastructure, fiber capacity, and data centers located in Canada, Australia, and Brazil. Founded in 1994, PTGi is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.
About the Survey
From October 12 to October 25, 2011, an online survey was conducted among a sample of 453 small business owners and IT decision makers in Canada in companies with 2 to 499 employees, who are also Angus Reid Forum panel members. The margin of error is ±4.6%, 19 times out of 20. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
