A survey into information and communications systems security has revealed some "alarming" findings.

Carried out by Trust Catalyst on behalf of Thales Information Systems Security, it shows that more than a third of organisations do not know if they will encrypt their backup tapes and half do not know where they would store tape backup encryption keys.

The 2008 Encryption and Key Management Benchmark Survey also states that web server and SSL encryption are the applications most often secured, followed by desktop file and email encryption.

"It is encouraging to see that more organisations are proactively securing sensitive data but the survey suggests there is still room for improvement," comments Bryta Schulz, vice-president of product marketing at Thales.

He warns that securing sensitive data in an unplanned and unstructured way puts both the organisation and data at risk.

According to the Information Commissioner's Office, the number of data breaches reported has risen to 277 since the loss of 25 million child benefit records by HM Revenue and Customs last year.

The 30 most serious cases are currently being investigated.

New research from Connect found that, on average, it takes businesses that use backup tapes take 11.6 hours to retrieve and restore files. Connect is now recommending that SMEs switch to www.connect.co.uk/services/online_backup