IT contractors may be needed to help firms improve their data security, as one firm claims that most companies' security leaks are easily avoidable.

A report from Verizon business has found that even basic security measures would have prevented most of last year's data security breaches, as only four per cent of them required difficult and expensive security protection.

Reacting to the claims, Alexei Lesnykh of software solutions provider DeviceLock says that financial pressures are preventing companies from investing properly in data security.

"A lot of chief information officers do understand all the dangers from data breaches, but they don't have enough budget to invest in full function data leak prevention solutions, which can be very expensive," Mr Lesnykh said.

He also adds that the increasing the fine for a serious Data Protection breach to £500,000 can have an adverse effect.

Smaller firms can come to the conclusion that the legislation is aimed at larger companies and not them, as their risks are much lower, Mr Lesnykh explains.