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    Data Security Heads List of C-level Executives’ Concerns

    A new study from the United Kingdom that was conducted by the Ponemon Institute on behalf of IBM is illustrative of a worldwide challenge when it comes to enforcing IT security. The study of 115 C-level executives finds that while CEOs are increasingly placing more importance on data security, there is a significant gap between their perception of how good their organizations are at securing information and the perceptions of the rest of the executive management team.

    The core issue, says Dr. Larry Ponemon, is that CEOs are still pretty divorced from the processes associated with managing security, which tends to give them a slightly distorted view of their company’s capabilities and what it takes to secure the organization.

    The good news is that everybody seems to agree that spending money on security is a valuable and necessary endeavor, but not everybody seems to be on the same page concerning what the proper amount should be.

    Data Security Heads List of C-level Executives' Concerns - slide 1

    Click through for highlights of the Ponemon study on C-level executives’ concerns over security.

    Data Security Heads List of C-level Executives' Concerns - slide 2

    Security has become a much bigger issue for the CEO.

    Data Security Heads List of C-level Executives' Concerns - slide 3

    The responsibility for security lies mostly with internal IT.

    Data Security Heads List of C-level Executives' Concerns - slide 4

    Confidence in security measures is not as high as it might be.

    Data Security Heads List of C-level Executives' Concerns - slide 5

    There are more attacks than most CEOs realize.

    Data Security Heads List of C-level Executives' Concerns - slide 6

    Financial data is seen as a lot more critical to protect than customer data.

    Data Security Heads List of C-level Executives' Concerns - slide 7

    Stolen laptops or flash drives top the list of potential threats.

    Data Security Heads List of C-level Executives' Concerns - slide 8

    Damage to the brand is the top concern.

    Data Security Heads List of C-level Executives' Concerns - slide 9

    Corporate IT and human resources are the two departments charged most with securing data.

    Data Security Heads List of C-level Executives' Concerns - slide 10

    Reduction in breaches and better brand image top the perceived ROI of data security.

    Data Security Heads List of C-level Executives' Concerns - slide 11

    Asset performance and protection are metrics used to measure security ROI most.

    Data Security Heads List of C-level Executives' Concerns - slide 12

    Relative to other security sectors, investments in data protection are small.

    Data Security Heads List of C-level Executives' Concerns - slide 13

    Most of the security budget goes to paying for existing solutions that deal with known threats.

    Data Security Heads List of C-level Executives' Concerns - slide 14

    A pretty strong case for security ROI starts to emerge.

    Data Security Heads List of C-level Executives' Concerns - slide 15

    The cost of remediation is getting higher as more regulations come into effect.

    Data Security Heads List of C-level Executives' Concerns - slide 16

    CEOs are out of step with the rest of the executive team.

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