Security should remain a key priority for IT outsourcing customers as cutting back on protection now could leave them at risk, according to Equifax.

Research released by ABM last week revealed 29 per cent of organisations have cut back on their security budgets in the last two years, but during the same period around half have experienced an increase in incidences of theft and fraud.

Neil Munroe, external affairs director for Equifax, said businesses which reduced their security spending were taking “a very short-term view” that could ultimately damage them.

He added that the current financial climate made it more likely that financial crime would occur.

“People get increasingly desperate, and you find therefore that there is a lot more temptation for these things to happen inside businesses,” he explained.

“It could be a false economy to take security resources out.”

According to a survey commissioned by Orange, 26 per cent of small to medium sized enterprises view protection from security risks as their least important business priority.