The EU is not doing enough to help educate SMEs about IT security and might face a downturn in its digital economy as a result, one industry body has warned.

A survey conducted by the European Network and Information Security Agency revealed that nearly half the member states of the EU have no system in place to inform SMEs of best practice in IT security, reports Computing.co.uk.

It also found that less than one in five countries has a dedicated IT security advisory body.

Speaking to the website, Tony Neate, managing director of Get Safe Online, said: "The aim [is] to help small businesses safeguard their reputation as well as their finances is an important one, but the EU must work around current initiatives to avoid confusing people."

Last year cyber-crime hit the headlines when Estonia suffered a high profile attack on its IT infrastructure.

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) In a recent survey of SMEs for Connect, the two most important benefits of outsourcing were 'guaranteed response times' and 'allowing in-house IT staff to concentrate on more strategic issues'