Study Finds Desktop Software Ineffective in Preventing Spyware

Last week, Blue Coat Systems Inc. released the results of a spyware study that reveals a majority of information technology (IT) professionals find desktop software to be ineffective in preventing enterprise spyware.

The company surveyed 339 IT professionals who are using or have used desktop software products from CA (PestPatrol), Kaspersky, Lavasoft (Ad-Aware), McAfee, Microsoft, Spybot, Symantec, and/or Webroot to clean desktop computers. The study was conducted to learn more about the effectiveness of desktop software in combating enterprise spyware, as well as collect input regarding the current state of spyware in the enterprise. The survey identified the following:

• Spyware Problem Getting Worse -- 84% of enterprise IT professionals believe the spyware problem is the same or worse than it was three months ago. A mere 16% believe the problem is getting better.
• Current Desktop Software Not Effective -- 72% of enterprise IT professionals report that the current set of desktop software products available today are ineffective in preventing spyware from infecting their networks.
• Re-Imaging Desktops a Common Practice -- 74% of enterprise IT professionals re-image some or all of their desktop computers despite installing and running desktop anti-spyware software. 12% of those polled re-image ALL of their spyware infected desktops.

Blue Coat polled IT professionals worldwide, 39% of whom are from organizations with 500 users or less, 44% from organizations with 501 to 10,000 users, and 17% from organizations with more than 10,000 users. Participants were polled electronically during the month of February, 2005, and were asked a series of nine questions related to enterprise spyware protection and desktop anti-spyware software.

"Spyware will soon be a bigger threat than viruses because it is profit-motivated, backed by venture capital, and easily created," said Steve Mullaney, vice president of marketing for Blue Coat. "While desktop software is the only answer for consumers, enterprises are likely to see their costs spiral unless they implement a 'defense-in-depth' strategy that includes a gateway anti-spyware solution. Only a proxy-based solution can prevent spyware while actually improving overall Web performance."