Seven in ten UK organisations have been hit by a security breach within the last 12 months, according to new research.

Yet more than a third (34 per cent) of firms believe that it is not always necessary to encrypt confidential data on portable devices, the survey commissioned by data security applications provider PGP has found.

Nearly half (46 per cent) indicated that data encryption helped them to meet privacy commitments, while a similar amount believe that it helps to protect their company's reputation.

Dr Larry Ponemon, chairman of the Ponemon Institute which carried out the survey, explained that there is a growing appetite for IT support solutions.

He said: "On the whole, UK businesses are looking closely at platform-based encryption solutions – with built-in key management capabilities – rather than point solutions supplied by multiple vendors.

"This doesn't just make sense from a management or cost point of view."

The research follows a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research, which indicated that the government needs to overhaul its national security policy.

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.