Government regs weigh on IT security professionals

Complying with increased government regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is taking up the time of computer security professionals, leaving them with less time to secure networks, according to a survey released by Pittsburgh-based RedSiren Inc.

However, the survey respondents acknowledge the government regulations have made computer networks safer.

In its 2005 IT Security Management Survey, RedSiren received responses from more than 300 IT professionals working in the private and government sectors.

Of the security officials that have to comply with government regulations, about 38 percent said those regulations have caused them to either divert or delay new IT security projects.

More than 19 percent said they were willing to assume risk rather than protect their networks around the clock once patch management and incident response products become more automated.