Data-loss rife in UK companies, says survey

Most UK companies are losing data every month, a survey has found.

The survey, of 250 senior IT staff at businesses larger than 1,000 employees, found the majority of UK businesses — 79 percent — were losing data at least once a month.

More than a quarter — 28 percent — suffered data loss on a weekly or more frequent basis, according to the report by IT management company CA.

The study also discovered that network downtime occurs in 24 percent of companies, application crashes in 30 percent and slowing of applications in 27 percent.

IT departments were seen to be suffering from underinvestment, with 68 percent of IT managers saying their budgets were insufficient and 45 percent saying IT costs were overlooked in new business ventures.

Senior IT staff said companies should take greater advantage of new technology and utilise online applications to tackle the problems.

Last week parliament outlawed the reckless loss of personal data, backing changes to the law to make it a civil offence punishable with a "substantial" fine.