Companies embracing voice over internet protocol (VoIP) technology are not doing enough to make sure that the system is secure, it has been claimed.

Research by In-Stat found that a large number of firms have not introduced extra IT security measures, even though the new technology is used by many firms beyond their own network and on the wider internet.

The survey found that 40 per cent of firms using VoIP have no plans for securing their system, despite the fact that most have a budget allocated for the purpose.

In-Stat analyst, said: "No mechanisms for securing VoIP had more than 50% penetration across all sizes of business.

"Proactive measures, including periodic security audits and pre-deployment assessments had low percentages of penetration too, even among the larger organizations."

The firm also found that around fourth-fifths of companies now use VoIP to some extent.

Last week, research conducted by Sophos found that two-thirds of work PCs are not protected against IT threats.

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'.