Firms failing to prevent electronic identity theft

Only 1% of businesses have put in place all available controls according to the 2006 DTI biennial 'Information Security Breaches Survey', conducted by a consortium led by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The survey also showed that where organisations did have all identity and access management safeguards in place, none reported a single identity-related security incident.

PricewaterhouseCoopers director Andrew Beard said: "Identity theft and phishing are on the increase, particularly in financial services and telecoms providers. Several businesses reported daily attacks of this nature.

"It is all the more important therefore that companies adopt an integrated approach to identity and access management. Those that have are seeing real benefits from their investment."

He added: "Too many companies are still relying on single factor authentication techniques such as user ID and passwords. More companies need to follow the lead of the few larger businesses which are using stronger methods to authenticate their users."