Study: Budgets rising alongside online security fears

In recent years, technological advancements have made data access easier than ever, but with this development, more information is susceptible to attacks. According to IT nonprofit CompTIA, more organizations are fearful of increasing online security breaches.

Of the business and IT executives surveyed by the organization, 83 percent of participants believe security threats are on the rise. Much of this fear comes from the fact that mobile, cloud computing and big data are becoming more mainstream technologies, putting company information at risk.

"Our data suggests that there is no single overriding factor behind this sentiment," said CompTIA vice president Tim Herbert. "Rather, it’s a combination of elements that each chip away at information safety and security defenses in some way."

According to CompTIA, 20 percent of respondents said some of their company data has been lost in the past year. Of these businesses 65 percent said financial data was obtained during the events, followed by 52 percent who said employee information, 27 percent lost confidential customer files and 26 percent cited intellectual property.

"Billions of devices connect to the internet daily, and with each touch point there’s a potential for new security vulnerabilities," Herbert added. "With more data being produced and touched by more people, the potential for data loss or leakage grows accordingly."

According to CompTIA, nearly 60 percent of respondents said security concerns are more crucial than two years ago. Of those polled, 70 percent cited security as a top priority in 2012, growing from only 49 percent from 2010. To address these fears, 80 percent of organizations expect to increase their IT security spending.

Businesses struggling with the fear of online security attacks are expected to step up their defenses this year. According to a study by market research firm IDC, the global predictive security market is projected grow from $198 million in 2009 to more than $900 million in 2014.

IDC said hacker attacks take less time to execute than in previous years and last only a few hours or even minutes. This has made it increasingly difficult for companies to effectively identify the origin of the breach and solutions such as antivirus, firewalls and intrusion systems only deflect 30 to 35 percent of incidents.