Sep, 2002 : Canadian CEOs Aware of IT Risk, says Survey

📅 September 24, 2002 - A new survey conducted by Ipsos-Reid and sponsored by IBM Canada indicates that while fewer than one in three CEOs of mid-sized Canadian companies feel their security measures are "very effective," protecting corporate data and networks from attack is still a secondary consideration.

More than 40 percent of CEOs surveyed said protecting their companies from attack was only a moderate priority, while another 19 percent said it was not a priority at all. These opinions were expressed despite the fact that almost half the companies surveyed had been infected by a computer virus in the last year.
"Given the importance of mid-sized companies to the Canadian economy, the results of this survey are a bit startling," said David Saffran, Vice President and Managing Director, Ipsos-Reid. "The survey indicates that CEOs of many mid-sized companies aren't fully aware of their companies' security, and many aren't investing in the necessary infrastructure that will protect their critical corporate assets."
Eighty percent of the respondents said their networks had not been hit by hackers in the past year, but 40 percent said their organizations did not possess the intrusion detection systems necessary for determining if their networks have been attacked.
Ipsos-Reid says CEOs seemed to become more aware of potential threats during the interview process. While 48 percent initially said their systems were "extremely secure" or "very secure," but after answering questions about viruses, hackers and internal threats, only 30 percent said their companies? measures were effective.
The survey was conducted by interviewing 250 CEOs of companies in Canada with 100 to 500 employees, from July through September 2002.