ELK RAPIDS, Mich. -- Nearly two-thirds of security executives believe they have no way to prevent a data breach, according to the latest industry research by privacy and information management research firm the Ponemon Institute. What’s more, most respondents believe their organizations lack the accountability and resources necessary to enforce data security policy compliance.

These results were derived from a national survey on information security professionals’ experiences in detecting and preventing the leakage of sensitive or confidential information to unauthorized parties, both outside and inside an organization. Announced today by the Ponemon Institute and PortAuthority Technologies, Inc.,™ the leader in Information Leak Prevention (ILP), the National Survey on the Detection and Prevention of Data Breaches examines the responses of 853 randomly selected, U.S.-based information security professionals to questions related to data protection and prevention within their organizations.

An analysis of the study suggests that, in spite of increased attention and intense media and public scrutiny, the state of data security within U.S. corporations remains a serious challenge. Key findings of the study include: