Industry News Home More stories like this... RSS Feed

Councils urged to review security measures

Online security concerns have been raised in the UK with the news that nine in ten major local authorities cannot guarantee that all sensitive data held on their laptops is encrypted.

Internet security solutions provider Telindus, which specialises in network security, says nearly half of all councils in the UK have some form of security in place but encryption needs priority.

According to the firm's managing director Mark Hutchinson, councils must "think beyond encryption" when considering what security measures to take as data leakage was becoming more commonplace.

"Resting on your laurels and relying on old security measures in a modern working environment is short-sighted and foolhardy," he said.

"Encrypting data certainly helps protect data from the opportunist thief. However, there is no way of telling whether the encryption method has been compromised once in their possession."

According to recent research conducted by the organisation, 43 per cent of councils have no immediate plans to upgrade their data protection.

PC Tools internet security, safeguards your PC against cyber threats with proactive defence. Visit www.pctools.com to upgrade your protection