Businesses may not be showing sufficient levels of vigilance over IT security breaches, research suggests.

According to research by Peapod, of the 73 per cent of organisations in the survey which encountered a spyware attack last year, nearly one in five - 19 per cent - were unable to identify the source.

The study, performed in partnership with FaceTime Communications, was conducted with the help of 203 UK-based organisations from a broad spectrum of expertise.

"Technology is not the only answer when viewed in isolation, it is also down to the user to play a key role in ensuring that spyware doesn't get a foothold in the infrastructure," said Chris Durnan, managing director of Peapod.

Indeed, although a majority of respondents confirmed that the use of instant messaging had been prohibited within the workplace, of those, almost 70 per cent use restriction techniques which are now considered easy to work around or out-of-date.

Peapod is a provider of enterprise security solutions.