Firms have been advised not to scale back spending on IT security when making spending cuts, which could safeguard some IT contractors' jobs.

Research published by intelligence and investigation management software solutions specialist ABM suggests that 29 per cent of organisations have decreased their information security budgets in the last two years.

However, external affairs director for Equifax Neil Munroe suggests that doing so is a false economy.

During times of economic hardship, incidence of theft and fraud naturally rise, he claims, which means any savings made by cutting budgets could be wiped out by losses incurred.

"You need to step up your level of monitoring in these times, because the economic climate tends to increase the likelihood of these sorts of things happening," Mr Munroe explained.

The same report from ABM validates his viewpoint, as it found that half of businesses had seen a rise in theft and fraud in the last two years.