Survey reveals 20% of IT Cheat on Audits to get them passed

Plus Recession sees more companies buying equipment from online auction sites

London – June 2009 (Eskenzi PR) – A survey of IT security managers and technical staff has revealed that 20% admit to cheating on an audit to get it passed. The survey by Security Lifecycle Management company Tufin Technologies, was conducted amongst 151 IT security professionals, many of whom were from multinational organisations and government departments, employing 1000 to 5000+ employees as part of their annual “Reality Bytes” security survey.

Survey Says….. Firewall Audits: Bad, Shopping on ebay: Good

In fact, the survey discovered that 63% of companies only check and audit their firewalls from anything between 3 months to a year, with a staggering 9% never bothering to check their firewalls at all. 51% admitted that their firewall rules are “a mess.”

The survey also found that 22% of firewall audits take anything from a few weeks to a few months, with 70% saying that their audits take a few days. However, from a security perspective with audits not being undertaken frequently and with many taking time to conduct, it can mean that many companies have firewalls that, at best, are running under par and, at worst, contain shadowed or obsolete rules that introduce unnecessary risk to the organization.

Buying IT equipment over ebay proving to be more popular than ever Tufin also found that more companies than ever before are buying IT hardware from ebay, a trend Tufin was aware of anecdotally via its customers. The Tufin survey found that almost a quarter of companies (24%) would buy from eBay if it meant that they would save money.

Is the cup half empty or half full?

In the current climate cost savings are a huge priority to most companies, however in the area of IT security and compliance, 52% of companies have revealed that their organisations have not made them focus on cost cuttings at the cost of security and compliance, which are still priorities that money will be spent on. 48% report cost cuts have impacted their compliance efforts.

“With more than 315 customers we have a something of a read on the state of firewall management, so while we did ask some requisite questions, but we were really looking to get a more subtle, read on peoples attitudes and behaviours, said Ruvi Kitov, CEO, Tufin Technologies. “Having a clear sense of what’s going on in the trenches is an important indicator of what and where to innovate, and we are more committed than ever to making security operations less painful.”

Tufin Technologies is the leading provider of Security Lifecycle Management solutions that enable large organizations to enhance security, ensure business continuity and increase operational efficiency. Tufin's products SecureTrack and SecureChange Workflow help security operations teams to manage change, minimize risks and dramatically reduce manual, repetitive tasks through automation. With a combination of accuracy and simplicity, Tufin empowers security officers to perform reliable audits and demonstrate compliance with corporate and government standards. Founded in 2005 by leading firewall and business systems experts, Tufin now serves more than 315 customers around the world, including leading financial, telecom, transportation, energy and pharmaceutical companies. For more information visit http://www.tufin.com or follow Tufin on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/TufinTech.

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