IT services and infrastructure provider Fusepoint Managed Services (fusepoint.com) recently conducted a survey that shows that 85 percent of working Canadians are concerned about personal information being stored in online databases and 12 percent say they have been a victim of identity theft or know someone who has.

The poll, entitled "The Fusepoint Data Confidence Survey," also shows that 22 percent of working Canadians admit to taking greater care of their own personal information than that of their clients or customers and one in six report that their company has been affected by a security breach. In addition, 48 percent of Canadian executives aren't confident that private information is secure despite the fact that more than 70 percent of them have policies and procedures in place to guard against security breaches.

"Security is not just a technology issue. It's a corporate governance issue," said George Kerns, president and CEO of Fusepoint. "Many executives are speeding down the information superhighway without a seat belt and putting businesses and consumers at risk. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of protection when it comes to sensitive data."

Poll results also show that although executives believe that security threats from external hackers have increased since 2005, internal agents such as employees who may unknowingly download viruses, spyware, or adware represent an equal security threat.