What security breach could cost you your job?

Virus? Spyware? Loss of sensitive data... what's going to get you a P45 the quickest?

IT bosses are fearful of losing their jobs in the event of a security breach – despite a survey on silicon.com today which would appear to show they have little grasp on the threats their companies are facing.

Top fear and the fastest route to a P45 is an internet security breach, with 30 per cent of respondents to a recent survey claiming one would cost them their jobs.

More than a quarter (26 per cent) believe the loss of intellectual property due to a security breach would result in their dismissal.

Third biggest concern (cited by 22 per cent of respondents) is their existence of pirate materials on the network, such as MP3 files or illegal software.

A fifth of respondents (21 per cent) said bad press following a security breach would be the catalyst for imminent unemployment.

Mark Murtagh, European technical director at Websense, who commissioned the research, told silicon.com: "There have been a number of highly publicised cases which have been splashed all over national tabloids, such as breaches at high street banks or the notorious 'Department for Porn' as one newspaper named it."

But it seems even those haven't worked as a wake-up call with many bosses still burying their heads in the sand.

Yet while bosses may not be winning the battle to secure their network, or even understand what needs to be done, they are taking the strain.

More than a fifth (21 per cent) of respondents said they find their security remit more stressful than events such as moving house, getting married or getting divorced.

Most interesting is the finding of the pan-European survey that Italian IT bosses find work the most stressful. This may be due to the fact Italian data protection laws mean prison sentences for anybody found to be in breach of their obligation to be compliant. It doesn't even require a breach – simple non-compliance can lead to a stay in the big house, according to Michael Colao, director of information management at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.