Why is Information Security important?

 

In a survey of Information Security, 90% of respondents reported at least one security breach at an average cost of £16,000 - the maximum impact was estimated at £2M or more. It is not paranoia to believe that this will, or has already, happened to your company.

 

Information is an essential resource for all businesses today. It is the key to business growth and success. The impacts of weak security may be far greater than expected, not only may the loss of critical information directly affect your competitiveness and cash flow, but could damage your company's reputation and may have a long term detrimental effect.

 

If you share information with other organisations, this too will need to be protected. Traditionally, most businesses exchanged paper documents - usually by post. Email has enabled information to be sent and received more quickly and is now the preferred method of exchanging information. Together with increased use of the internet, every company is ever more dependant upon its members protecting company information - not only for its inherent value to the company, but also because of its value to a competitor.