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IT support services should target system vulnerabilities, it has been claimed.

Howard Schmidt, president and chief executive officer at the Information Security Forum (ISF), suggested that this is easily overlooked by companies.

According to SC Magazine, Mr Schmidt told an audience at the (ISC)2 conference in London that the information security industry has changed dramatically.

He said: "Security is part of the process, and companies recognise that it is not about throwing out anti-virus.

"It is about risk management and realising that things you wanted in the last quarter you may not see until the end of the year."

A recent report by the ISF indicated that many firms are exposing themselves to information security risks.

Report author Simone Seth warned that a lack of appropriate IT support can have "serious consequences" for businesses.

ISF is an independent organisation with more than 300 major business members from around the world.

A recent Connect survey found that the two major concerns about outsourcing services like IT support were 'loss of control' (56 per cent) and 'budget over-runs' (43 per cent).