PKWARE, a global leader in encryption software, today releases the results of a survey that examines the data security knowledge and best practices of UK-based technology decision-makers. The survey suggests that nearly a quarter of tech senior decision-makers in the UK don’t fully understand what encryption is. *
This number increases to 40% in the retail sector and half in the healthcare sector. Overall, only 50% of respondents said they encrypt their customer data.
“These results are mind boggling,” said Miller Newton, CEO of PKWARE. “It’s hard to believe how many companies are still scraping by with such lax security when handling their customers’ valuable data. Just being compliant with basic security regulations isn’t enough anymore. As demonstrated by numerous high profile cyber-attacks, organisations need to encrypt their data and have foolproof security measures in place.”
Additionally, the survey revealed that 40% of UK tech senior decision-makers agree with the Investigatory Powers Bill, which would allow the government to bypass encryption. This demonstrates a lack of understanding of what encryption is and why it should be used.
Additional findings from the survey include:
- Less than half of all tech decision-makers train their staff in security measures.
- Only 40% of companies implement a clean desk policy – a move which doesn’t require any investment.
- Only 35% of tech decision-makers think their staff definitely knows enough about data security and encryption to avoid a cyber-attack.
*According to the results of a survey of 250 senior technology decision-makers conducted by CensusWide on behalf of PKWARE in August 2016.
