Enterprises to Protect Intellectual Property

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Reconnex, the leader in data loss prevention appliances, today announced the findings of a new survey focused on the business drivers for and key process issues concerning the protection of Intellectual Property (IP) in corporate enterprises. The survey, titled "Intellectual Property Security: The Elephant in the Room," was conducted by the Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) on behalf of Reconnex. ESG found that nearly 75 percent of enterprises surveyed plan to spend more money on people, processes, and technologies to secure electronic forms of IP in 2007. In spite of the high priority placed on IP security spending, the data reveal a troubling lack of centralized policy oversight and an outdated reliance on manual processes for securing IP. Close to one-third of respondents are increasing their spending defensively, in reaction to high-profile security breaches of the past year.

"Intellectual Property Security: The Elephant in the Room" is based on data gathered from senior IT executives at enterprises with 1,000 to 20,000 employees. Following are the survey's key findings:

-- Some 65 percent of organizations with 20,000 employees or more say they will significantly increase spending on IP protection in 2007
-- About 74 percent of respondents rate their companies' performance in securing all forms of IP as good or excellent
-- Yet a startling 55 percent of respondents still rely on "sweat equity" to secure IP. About 56 percent of organizations with more than 20,000 employees spend more than 80 hours per quarter on manual processes for identifying and classifying IP.

These manual processes can lead to vulnerabilities that allow IP -- which can account for a large portion of shareholder value -- to leave the organization undetected.

"This report is a combination of good news and bad news," said Jon Oltsik, senior security analyst with the Enterprise Strategy Group. "Corporations understand the business, technology, and compliance drivers for increased IP security and are willing to make the appropriate investments, but benefiting from these investments means eliminating outdated, inefficient, and subjective manual processes. With the right technologies, companies not only can automate the discovery of their corporate IP, they can also automate the creation and enforcement of policy."

Reconnex Corp.