Firms Fear Cost Of Extra Security Compliance

The UK government’s so-called Snoopers’ Charter will lead to an increase in business costs, according to a recent industry survey.

Research published by IP EXPO Europe found that 58 per cent of UK IT departments are concerned about rising costs as a result of the proposed Investigatory Powers Bill.

The government bill has had its fair share of critics, ranging from privacy advocates to multi-national tech corporations like Google, Microsoft and Facebook. It has been estimated that the bill will cost £1.8 billion to implement over a period of ten years.

The added strain placed on IT departments, which will be required to collect, store and monitor consumer data for up to 12 months, is also a concern. IP EXPO Europe’s director of strategy, Brady Maule-ffinch, believes that the government must find another way of funding new security legislation.

“Although the government’s latest bill is designed to address national security concerns, it needs to find a way of mitigating against cyber threats without passing the costs on to businesses and consumers,” she said.

The research from IP EXPO Europe also revealed some interesting trends surrounding IT security. 52 per cent of IT departments believe that the security threat level is higher than it was last year, while 78 per cent believe that the government must invest more in national cybersecurity proposals.

As businesses begin to store more and more sensitive data, it is understandable that security fears will increase. Even disregarding the Snoopers Charter, the increasing use of Big Data analytics and the rise of IoT and wearables means that it is inevitable that the amount of data in the hands of businesses is set to rise. Evidently, both the UK government and individual businesses face a difficult task to manage privacy and security concerns concurrently.