Security a top concern for CFOs

Jul 14, 2006 2:35 PM

Chief financial officers (CFOs) rank information security as their top priority, according to a survey conducted by IT services provider Computer Sciences Corp.
The survey, issued in collaboration with FERF (Financial Executives Research Foundation), FEI (Financial Executives International) and the CFIT (Committee on Finance & Information Technology), also concludes that many enterprises do not have adequate plans in place to protect their information.
According to the survey, which is in its eighth year and based on responses garnered from roughly 700 financial executives, only 20 percent of those interviewed feel "highly satisfied" with their security policies and infrastructure.
Nearly 10 percent of the executives say their company has already experienced a major business interruption as a result of cyber-attacks.
"Information security persists as an area of significant concern for financial officers due to the growing number of audits evaluating security measures, the frequency of security breaches and broad press coverage of those breaches,"writes Jerry Boltin of CSC's Business Intelligence Consulting Group.
Surprisingly, even though survey respondents expressed widespread concern over security, a majority (60 percent) said that their companies, and this includes large enterprises, do not have a strategic IT security plan in place.
The survey says that among organizations with more than $5 billion in revenue, only 63 percent of those interviewed reported having a formal plan.
Beyond security, the executives responding to the study said they are most frustrated by a lack of budget to spend on analytical technologies that could improve their businesses' overall performance and please shareholders.

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© 2012 Penton Media Inc.

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