SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwire - August 29, 2007) - Cisco® (
NASDAQ:
CSCO) today released a set
of results from an additional international study examining mobile workers'
security behavior with regard to corporate security and its impact on
businesses, revealing widespread plans to increase security spending by as
much as 20 percent next year to protect expanding wireless networks and the
growing numbers of mobile employees who access them.
The latest research builds on findings released earlier this month
spotlighting the growing trend of mobile employees and how their security
behavior can heighten risks for businesses' IT organizations as they
connect to corporate networks and carry sensitive information outside
office walls. While the previous findings involve more than 700 mobile
employees in seven countries where wireless and mobility technologies are
widely adopted, the additional findings released today reveal spending
plans and business drivers for more than 700 IT decision makers who work in
those same nations: the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, China,
India, South Korea, and Singapore.
Ultimately, the global study (conducted this spring by InsightExpress, an
independent market research firm) explores what's driving IT to invest more
heavily in securing connected business infrastructures. Their plans are
driven by various business trends, such as regulatory compliance and
strategic mobility initiatives, as well as the greater risks associated
with increased collaboration among customers, vendors and partners.
"Businesses today are boosting productivity and corporate agility by
enabling more employees to connect to the corporate network via mobile
technologies," said John N. Stewart, Cisco's chief security officer.
"Employees' awareness and behaviors relating to mobile security are the
crucial factors in protecting information and assets."
Many mobile users say they aren't always aware of security concerns, and
their actions provide proof. Throughout the seven countries, many mobile
employees say they access unauthorized wireless networks in public places
and in their neighborhoods. Many say they don't encrypt data on their
wireless devices or set passwords to prevent physical access to their
information. And, inevitably, some mobile users lose their devices or
suffer from theft.
With behavioral security implications as a backdrop, more than half of the
IT decision makers surveyed (55 percent) do not believe that the frequency
of threats will decline. As a result, three of every four IT decision
makers (74 percent) said security spending will increase over the next
fiscal year in an effort to accommodate growing wireless and mobility
requirements. Almost half (46 percent) expect investments to increase by
more than 10 percent, and almost one of every 10 (9 percent) expects
spending to jump 20 percent or more.
"These figures are significant, because a 20 percent increase in spending
on security alone could represent hundreds of thousands to millions of
dollars for mid-size and large enterprises," said Jeff Platon, vice
president of security solutions for Cisco.
Aside from the ever-present nature of security threats and behavioral
concerns of mobile employees, the research revealed business-related
reasons why spending is increasing:
-- Regulatory Compliance: Just over half of the IT respondents (51
percent) say compliance drives them to focus more on wireless security,
especially in Asia, where most respondents in China (75 percent), India (65
percent), and Singapore (62 percent) all feature a significant majority.
-- Mobility Enablement: Almost two-thirds (63 percent) of IT respondents
say more employees are being enabled to work anywhere, anytime with
laptops, smartphones, or both. Germany (74 percent) lead the pack, followed
by China and India (69 percent), South Korea (66 percent), and the United
States (58 percent).
-- Corporate Growth and Hiring: More than half of the IT respondents (53
percent) said hiring is increasing, which naturally increases the number of
employees who will become mobile and wirelessly connected. In five of the
seven countries, well over a half of its IT respondents note this
development: China (69 percent), the United Kingdom (64 percent), Singapore
(63 percent), India (62 percent) and the United States (53 percent).
-- Capital Expense Loss and Theft: Nine percent of the IT respondents say
spending is increasing as a result of replacing lost or stolen devices,
such as laptops, smartphones and PDAs, most of which carry sensitive
personal and corporate information. The United States features the most
alarming percentage: More than one in four (26 percent) U.S. respondents
say spending is increasing for this reason.
"The research really provides an opportunity for IT to reassess its
relationship with increasingly mobile user bases and consider new ways to
minimize spending," said Ben Gibson, Cisco's director of mobility
solutions. "If you look at it from all angles -- compliance, policies,
business needs, and human behavior -- technology is only half of the
equation. Proactive communication, education, and engagement of employees
on safe, appropriate online behavior, especially when they are mobile and
remote, can help ensure solid returns on strategic IT investments that
bring the promise of a secure, mobile wireless business to life."
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