A large number of retailers are losing the IT security battle because they do not have a coherent long-term defence strategy in place, one industry body says.

Management consultancy Deloitte says that many retailers simply respond to IT security problems they encounter, meaning that they face continuing problems, reports Computerweekly.com.

The study carried out by Deloitte found that 80 per cent of retail and consumer goods companies had no clear IT security strategy.

It also found that while business continuity was high on the agenda for such firms, 82 per cent of them had failed to test their system to see if they would work as they intended if disaster did strike.

The same study found that many retailers were not taking enough steps to protect people's personal data.

Last month Michael Phillips of Broadband Choices said that it was vital that small firms invested in adequate IT security as cyber-criminals were becoming increasingly resourceful.

According to a recent survey by Connect, the two biggest IT headaches for businesses were 'everyday hassles with IT' (37 per cent) and 'security concerns' (32 per cent).