Report finds data breaches mainly involve outsourced IT.

• Position: CYBERSECURITY - Brief article

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A recent report published by Trustwave revealed that 64% of security breaches it analyzed last year involved IT outsourcing providers. The findings drive home the need for enterprises to be more aware of the security measures outsourcing providers have in place before contracting with them.

"We are not saying outsourcing is bad," explained John Yeo, director of Trustwave's SpiderLabs unit in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, "but what we are saying is that there may have been a lack of due diligence in the selecting of outsourcing providers."

The UK's Data Protection Act requires data controllers to take "appropriate technical and organizational measures" to avoid "unauthorized or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data."

Some feel more clarity is needed from regulators as to what sort of security standards can be considered as compliant with the Data Protection Act. Also, too many senior business executives lack...