90% UK business take proactive approach to security: Study

Nearly 90 percent of British businesses understand the increasing importance of security and indicate that their companies have a proactive strategy in place, a latest research found.

The 2013 AT&T Business Continuity Study did a survey of 100 UK businesses with annual revenue of over $25 million.

It found that more than three quarters of executives surveyed (76 percent) cited the looming threat of security breaches as their most important security concern for 2013.

In addition, 94 percent of executives indicate their organizations have a business continuity plan in place in case of a disaster or threat.

"In the wake of unexpected weather, cyber security threats and new ways of working, business continuity planning has won more and more attention and investment," said Michael R. Singer, executive director of Security Services Development of AT&T.

The research also revealed that British businesses have continued to grow and advance their business continuity and disaster recovery plans to incorporate the adoption of wireless network capabilities, cloud services and mobile applications.

"The research results show us that UK businesses are not taking any chances when it comes to protecting their technology infrastructure and assets," said Dave Langhorn, vice president of AT&T UK and Ireland.

"Business continuity planning has gone from being a theoretical possibility to a practical and very real priority, with many organizations investing in new technologies such as cloud services to help strengthen and expand their overall continuity strategies," Langhorn added.

AT&T offers a wide array of business continuity services, encompassing disaster planning, risk management and recovery preparedness.

With the increase in IT budgets, companies are increasingly utilizing the cloud for their business continuity plans to help minimize the impact of potential threats and disasters.

Three-fourths of companies are using cloud services or plan to invest in cloud services in 2013.

Mobile security is a key area of concern and investment, Singer added.

In the survey, 83 percent of executives are concerned about the use of mobile networks and devices and its impact on security threats.

The majority (61 percent) of UK organizations invest in mobile security services.