IT contractors must consider information protection in a wider, more general security context it has been claimed.

Converged threats to data mean that IT security and physical security need to work together, Carl Froggert, global engineering lead at financial firm Citi, told V3.co.uk.

"Otherwise it is not a sensible model for security. If they are viewed as separate silos, there will be gaps in the system that can be exploited," he told the website.

It is also important for companies to protect themselves from threats by removing disused technology and software from their networks, John Walker, Nottingham Trent University professor, explained to the same site.

According to research published earlier this week by Imperva, WhiteHat Security and the Ponemon Institute, many firms see web-based applications as the part of their network most vulnerable to cyber attacks.

However, the same research found that, on average, only 18 per cent of companies' IT security budgets are dedicated to protecting these applications.