It is critical that IT managers ensure they install the latest Windows security patches, in order to maintain their IT security.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, told VNU Net: "Whether it is an employee's desktop PC or a customer's laptop, an unpatched machine represents a possible avenue for a cyber-attack."

He pointed to Microsoft's regular patches, one of which was released on Tuesday and was described as 'critical'. It covers security cracks in software such as Windows Live Messenger.

"All organisations should roll out these patches as a matter of urgency, as some of them could enable hackers to access data on a vulnerable PC or run malicious code," a Sophos statement read.

Separately, a recent report by criminology firm 1871 found that more than three million crimes took place on the internet last year, underlining the need for robust IT support.

Identity fraud and online financial fraud were especially commonplace.

A recent Connect survey found that the two major concerns about outsourcing services like IT support were 'loss of control' (56 per cent) and 'budget over-runs' (43 per cent)