At InfoSecurity last month, we saw heated debate around the best options available to IT managers and CIOs in ensuring user identification and access management. With threats from hackers, viruses and fraud ever present, the industry is developing more complex methods of securing information, through two-factor authentication and the like.

But are organisations ready for such advanced innovations when it seems some are still struggling to get the basics right? Research conducted by storage solutions company, Hitachi Data Systems, has found that just under a quarter (24 per cent) of UK companies still do not have an audited password management process, and only 54 per cent have an internal policy regarding business use of their IT resources, far behind the EMEA average of 74 per cent. Vendors must avoid focusing solely on this next generation of security technology at the risk of leaving some of these customers behind.

A good starting point for all companies, regardless of their current security strategy, is to consider their options for the whole IT environment. While securing access to applications and databases is essential, stored data should not be overlooked. For many organisations, this is the lifeblood of their business, holding customer details and histories, and so should also be a priority when building a security strategy.

It is important to ensure that only the relevant people are able to access information, especially given that only 52 per cent UK companies have a data deletion policy in place - again below the European average of 61 per cent. The challenge of protecting the devices through which information is accessed also still needs attention, as the research found that only 39 per cent of UK companies have a policy for securing data on mobile devices like phones, laptops and PDAs.

The Storage Index is an independent survey of 950 senior IT decision makers conducted by Vanson Bourne in January and February 2007. It is based on anonymous telephone interviews with heads of technology/senior IT decision makers. Participants answered quesrions on storage management, data security, business continuity, virtualisation, archiving and green IT.

Breakdown of Respondents:
By country: 100 Germany, 100 UK, 50 Austria, 50 Benelux, 50 Czech Republic, 50 Denmark, 50 Finland, 50 France, 50 Israel, 50 Italy, 50 Norway, 50 Poland, 50 Russia, 50 Spain, 50 Sweden, 50 Switzerland, 50 UAE

Company size: 475 midsize (250-1,000 employees), 475 enterprise (1,000 employees)

Research by sector: 191 financial services 189 healthcare or pharmaceutical 188 manufacturing 192 public sector and 190 retail, distribution or transport companies.

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