A new survey has found that fewer than one in 10 UK companies use full encryption across the network, and some delegates at Infosecurity Europe 2007 are privately wondering whether this proportion is an exaggeration.

The survey of over 500 businesses suggested that just nine per cent use enterprise-level encryption systems and barely half use any kind of encryption.

More worryingly, only 10 per cent encrypt back-up tapes, a practice which has caused data breaches in the UK and US.

"To be honest I would be amazed if it is as high as nine per cent," said Graeme Pyper, sales manager at data integrity firm Protegrity.

"A few firms encrypt their back-end systems but even then it is very industry specific - the finance sector mainly."

Where firms are using encryption it tends to be piecemeal, the report found. Laptops, file servers, email and back-up tapes all use the technology but very few in a co-ordinated way.

"Recent UK data breaches such as those at TK Maxx, Halifax and a Nottinghamshire hospital could easily have been avoided by deploying available encryption technologies," said Phillip Dunkelberger, president of PGP Corporation.

"However, the negative publicity from breaches continues to rise, tarnishing companies' brand images, damaging consumer confidence, and causing serious headaches for IT and executive management."