Report: Execs spending less on security, but remain confident

New York City -- Research released Wednesday by PwC found that retail and consumer executives are spending less on security due to insufficient capital, but that they maintain confidence in their information security, despite an increase in security incidents.



PwC’s new report, which surveyed nearly 1,000 senior industry executives from the R&C industry, revealed that 72% of respondents are either very confident (35%) or somewhat confident (37%) that their information security practices are effective; however, according to PwC, companies may be developing a false sense of security as the number of cyber crime incidents continues to rise.



Among key findings, PwC found that companies have been more reluctant to spend on security priorities than previous years, citing insufficient capital and operating expenditures as the leading obstacles to the effectiveness of their information security strategy. Furthermore, confidence remains high, but it has declined 13 points since 2007.



Three-quarters of respondents were able to provide details about their security breaches while less than half of respondents could do so in previous years, reflecting more awareness of security issues among R&C executives.



Nearly half (48%) of respondents are confident that security spending will increase anywhere from 10% to 30% or more within the next year. And 34% are implementing strategies to keep pace with employee use of personal electronic devices.