Firms 'not using apt security measures for application testing'

2009-08-20

Many global firms do not have adequate security measures for application testing in place even though the majority of them have been at the wrong end of a data breach in the last year, research has indicated.

A study from Micro Focus, carried out by the Ponemon Institute, of more than 1,350 practitioners involved in application development and testing in the UK and the US has shown that 79 per cent have experienced at least one data breach in the past 12 months.

Over two-thirds (70 per cent) of respondents said that they do not have data masking techniques in place when any form of testing is carried out.

"In this difficult economic time, the last thing organisations want or need is to experience a significant data breach that can leave their own, or worse, their customers' confidential information damaged or leaked," commented Stuart McGill, chief technology officer at Micro Focus.

A recent study from the Ponemon Institute, commissioned by the PGP Corporation, revealed that 69 per cent of Australian organisations have been struck by at least one data breach incident in the past year.

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