ODC calls for greater awareness of 'human' security issues

Open Door Consulting (ODC), one of the country's leading competitive intelligence solutions consultancies, is calling on businesses to be far more vigilant when it comes to the human element of information protection.

The announcement follows hot-on-the-heels of the recent decision by Marks & Spencer to call in a corporate security specialist after a spate of information leaks involving sensitive proprietary sales figures and strategies.

According to ODC director Paul Stretton-Stephens, too many companies are placing more emphasis on physical (eg access control and perimeter protection) and information security (firewalls, etc) than on the equally-important aspects of protecting the business from breaches of security by people.

"The Marks & Spencer incident is a classic case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted," Stretton-Stephens told SMT. "It's an all-too-common scenario for us to be called in after an event of unauthorised disclosure. That's too late by far."