One-third of companies don't know if they've been hacked

Research of 293 senior managers carried out be polling company YouGov, found 33 percent did not have any idea if their network had been breached. Nearly half (49 percent) thought they were inadequately informed about security matters.

The Cost and Confidence Research report, commissioned by vulnerability and risk management firm nCircle also found that nearly six-in-ten respondents (58 percent) thought their IT departments failed to effectively communicate with them.

The U.K. National Hi-Tech Crime Unit found that almost 90 percent of U.K. businesses were the target of cybercriminals last year, resulting in a loss of more than £2.4 billion. According to the research, fear of security risks is high at senior level with 38 percent of senior managers saying they have been the victims of one or more successful attacks in 2005.

"Effective security provision is an everyday boardroom concern, yet some IT teams may be failing to involve senior managers appropriately and report to them in the way they need," said Kevin Lamb, Director of EMEA Operations at nCircle. "IT teams need to reconsider their communication strategies to address this disconnect," he said.