Growing gap between attitude and action on data management

More than half of European mid-sized firms say they would refuse to do business with a company that had suffered a data breach, despite the fact that 41% believe data loss is an inevitable part of daily business.

That’s according to a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and storage and information management company, Iron Mountain.

The study shows that even as European companies are experiencing a 50% annual increase in data breaches, their approach to information management is defined by confusion, inconsistency and double standards.

For example, while 68% of respondents recognise that a responsible attitude to information is critical to business success, 47% say their board doesn’t see data protection as a big issue and 43% say their employees hold the same view.

In addition, while 44% expect the risk of a data breach to increase, 60% believe that cutting costs is more important than reducing exposure to information risk.

Less than half have an information risk strategy in place and measure its effectiveness, and 38% have a plan but do not know whether it works or not.

Iron Mountain spokesman, Christian Toon, comments: “There is a growing gap between attitude and action at a time of increasing complexity and rising threats to information security. Businesses are unsure what to do or where to turn. It is critical that they adopt a responsible approach to information management, not just to deserve and preserve their brand reputation and customer loyalty, but to ensure that other firms will want to keep doing business with them.”

PwC surveyed senior managers at 600 European businesses with 250 to 2,500 employees in the legal, financial services, pharmaceutical, insurance and manufacturing and engineering sectors.