Half of IT professionals question data security

It leaders across Europe have expressed their concern about the number of organisations who can access their personal data and the lack of trust in IT data security across the industry.

According to a recent study conducted by the Kaspersky Lab, which saw over 2,000 IT decision makers from organisations with more than 50 employees questioned, only 55 per cent of IT professionals trust that other organisations are keeping their personal data protected.

The study also revealed that 64 per cent of respondents stated that they are concerned with how many organisations can gain access to their personal data. This is despite 73 per cent of those surveyed revealing that the security of their data is extremely important to them.

Kaspersky Lab also explored the perceived data security within respondents own organisations, demonstrating that 32 per cent are not confident that their own company is capable of showing where personal data is sourced and held.

This issue is particularly important as the launch date for General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) approaches, at which point organisations will be expected to prove how and where personal data is sourced.

Commenting on the results of the study, Adam Maskatiya, general manager at Kaspersky Lab UK commented: "Given they deal with the challenges of data security as part of their daily role, it is perhaps no surprise that IT professionals feel strongly about personal data protection. They see threats from all directions and are acutely aware of the repercussions of a security breach."

Mr Maskatiya added: "However, it is concerning to see that their experiences have led to them losing faith in organisations and their peers. This clearly indicates that there is a long way to go before businesses are actually treating the data in their care with the respect it deserves – and before the GDPR deadline hits."