Most Security Pros Wouldn't Bet On The Security Of Their Networks

Most security professionals would be unwilling to bet any of their own money that their networks will not be breached in the next 12 months.

According to a survey of 300 IT professionals conducted by authentication tool vendor PhoneFactor, a leading global provider of multifactor authentication, more than two-thirds (70.3 percent) of respondents are only somewhat confident or not at all confident that an unauthorized person could not gain access to their networks.

Only one-quarter (25.7 percent) of respondents are very confident that they would know their networks had been infiltrated, the study says.

When asked whether an expert hacker would be capable of infiltrating their networks, 84.4 percent of respondents thought it was at least possible, with 23.1 percent answering that an expert hacker could definitely gain access to their corporate networks.

Some of the top reasons respondents said they believe their networks may be vulnerable are malware (55.4 percent), use of personal devices to access company resources (45 percent), sheer volume of attacks (35.2 percent), and widespread use of remote network access (32.6 percent).

When asked to wager one of five amounts -- $0, $1,000, $5,000, $50,000, or $1,000,000 -- that their networks will not be compromised in the next 12 months, 57.7 percent refused to take the bet, opting for $0, the study says.

PhoneFactor, which offers a second factor of authentication through an out-of-band phone call, conducted the study to see whether security professionals would have more confidence in their networks if they had implemented such a form of authentication in their networks. The vast majority said it would, according to the study.

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