Hackers and regulators force security crackdown

Companies are tightening up access to their IT systems in the face of hackers and regulatory pressure.

A survey of companies in eight European countries and the US by Forrester Consulting found that there are big budgets for identity management and access control projects.

One third of organisations surveyed said they plan to have strong authentication or two-factor authentication capabilities within 12 months.

More than a third of respondents (38 per cent) said they had budgets of €250,000 and 12 per cent of budgets were in excess of €1m.

And 41 per cent of respondents expect identity management budgets to increase in the next three years - with only six per cent expecting a decline.

The survey, commissioned by BT, also found that companies are completing existing projects related to user account provisioning and harder to crack passwords.

One third of organisations surveyed said they plan to have strong authentication or two-factor authentication capabilities within 12 months. But less than half of the respondents had projects to apply identity management to their customers and business partners.

Ray Stanton, head of business continuity, security and governance at BT, said in a statement: "As threats to information security escalate both from inside and outside the organisation, coupled with an increase in the number of regulations that companies have to comply with, many are realising the role that identity and access management can play in helping organisations address these issues."

Beyond security and compliance, companies surveyed said identity management can also increase employee productivity and mobility, reduce helpdesk costs, and centralise the IT and security management of people and resources.