Human error causes most security breaches

Human error, not technology, is the most significant cause of IT security breaches, according to a security survey released by the Computing Technology Industry Association Tuesday.

The survey, "Committing to Security: A CompTIA Analysis of IT Security and the Workforce," suggests more training and certification of IT workers will help the U.S. protect itself against cyber threats. In more than 63 percent of security breaches identified by the survey's respondents, human error was the major cause. Respondents blamed only 8 percent of security breaches on purely technical failures.

Brian McCarthy, CompTIA’s chief operating officer, called the results "staggering" in a press release statement. He noted that a majority of survey respondents said that most of their IT workers didn't have security training.

"It's not about the technology, but it's all about the people," McCarthy said at a press conference Tuesday. "Yes, technology plays a critical role, but unless you have the right people behind the wheel, and their knowledge levels are correct, you'll have some real challenges."

CompTIA, a trade association that offers technology certifications, said the survey's results showed the need for more security training and certification.

Among the results of the survey, conducted by NFO Prognostics, of 638 respondents from the public and private sectors:

-- Thirty-one percent had experienced from one to three major security breaches, causing real harm, in the last six months. Another 4 percent of respondents said they had between four and nine major security breaches in the previous six months, and another 3 percent said they had 10 or more major security breaches in six months.

-- Twenty-two percent said none of their IT employees have received security-related training; 69 percent have fewer than 25 percent of their IT staffs trained in security ; and only 11 percent said all of their IT employees have security training.

-- Ninety-six percent would recommend security training for their IT staff.

-- Seventy-three percent would recommend more comprehensive security certifications for their IT staff.

-- Sixty-six percent believe that staff training or certification have improved their IT security, through increased awareness and proactive risk identification.

"Frankly, we’re surprised no one's picked up on this before," McCarthy said in the press release. "The connection between having more IT security training and making our IT networks more secure seems so obvious, yet it’s been largely overlooked.  It’s just common sense."

Robert Kramer, vice president of global public policy for CompTIA, noted that more than 90 percent of the organizations responding said they use antivirus technologies and firewalls/proxy servers, but only 19 percent required previous security experience for their IT workers and 23 percent required security training.

"Although the problem is something that focuses on human error, the solutions you would expect are not forthcoming," Kramer added.