UK firms 'ill prepared' for electronic data requests
News Article - 24 May 2012
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No more than 29 per cent of businesses in the UK are fully prepared in the event that a regulator lodges a request to view their electronic data, with 66 per cent only "reasonably" aware of where corporate data is stored and five per cent clueless on the matter, according to a new survey.
Deloitte, business advisory firm, found that over one third (35 per cent) of company boards were not fully aware of the risks posed by failing to implement a rigorous internal electronic data management survey, while 56 per cent of companies had nobody responsible for overseeing electronic data requests on the board.
Large companies with a turnover of between £1 billion and £3 billion fared little better. Only 20 per cent were fully confident that they were aware of where all electronic corporate data was stored.
"When it comes to the reality of what companies have to produce, and the time and format they have to produce it in, they tend not to have a grasp of the breadth and depth of power of regulatory bodies," explained Kelvin-McGregor-Alcorn, director of forensic and dispute services at Deloitte.
"There is a naivety on the board that management of electronic data will be dealt with properly and efficiently and often an assumption made that the board will know all about it. Another assumption is that companies can conduct their own investigations. Regulators simply do not allow this," he warned.
In other news, Deloitte has appointed Andrew Winters, former head of risk assurance services in the north-east at PricewaterhouseCoopers, as head of its technology assurance and advisory practice.
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