Four in ten execs think they will be cybervictim

The Cost and Confidence Research study of 293 senior managers in mid-to large-size companies found that 38 percent thought their organizations would be breached by hackers, phishers and other cybercriminals this year.

The survey, undertaken by research firm YouGov, found the same proportion also had admitted breaches last year. Worryingly, a third of senior managers, had no idea if their organization's infrastructure had been hacked at all.

Despite continually increasing security budgets (15-percent growth last year according to Infonetics Research), confidence levels in security provision have not increased amongst the majority of senior managers, (68 percent say it has not increased since last year).

Nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of respondents agreed that security problems were now a "fact of business life." And a third of managers admitted that their confidence in security could be improved if they understood security problems themselves.

Kevin Lamb, director of EMEA Operations at vulnerability management firm nCircle, said current security strategies were not winning either the fight against Cybercrime or the confidence of senior managers.

"It's time for security professionals to stop and rethink their information security strategies, unless they wish to embrace a future of endless spending and diminishing returns. It is critical for organizations to develop a proactive network risk management philosophy and meaningful compliance reporting in order to break this cycle of security spending that delivers no improvement in security performance and confidence," he said.