High street enterprises are exposed to data loss, according a new survey.

In the wake of major and embarrassing data losses by government departments and agencies, new research shows that SMEs could face similar threats.

The survey showed that nearly 60% of businesses reported laptop thefts in the last 12 months.

Nearly half said data was threatened by employee negligence, but 80% said they only used traditional software asset management tools as a means of protecting their machines if stolen.

In addition, 43% of those who had already suffered a breach estimated the cost to be between £10,000 and £100,000, while 14% it cost them more than £500,000.

This was published at the same time as another survey reported that only 38% of technology, media and telecommunications companies were confident that they had adequate security to protect customer details.