Two-thirds of computers used for business are not fully protected against IT security threats, a new study has revealed.

ITPro reports that research conducted by Sophos found many work PCs fail to meet standards because software is not kept up-to-date or firewalls are disabled.

Speaking to the website, John Shaw, group project manager for the firm, said: "It's a lot to do with how difficult it is for IT managers to keep control of what end users are doing with their computers.

"You might send out computers to users in a good and healthy state but it's hard to do anything once it's in the user's hands."

Staff could switch off IT security programmes, install unauthorised software or cause other problems with their PC, he added.

Yesterday it was reported that a massive IT security threat had been uncovered after it was found more than 10,000 web pages have been infected with malicious code.

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'.