Firms have been advised by a leading online security firm to ensure that the safeguards on their websites are up to date.

Guy Bunker, chief scientist at Symantec, noted that data protection is a major issue for companies, particularly for online retail sites, which may store a vast amount of sensitive information on their customers.

In addition to these issues, he stated that backing up and server security are important areas for businesses to ask hosting companies about, as well as who could potentially have access to data.

He commented: "While availability and uptime are key, security is no longer a secondary issue."

Mr Bunker advised online retailers to make sure that they had a disaster recovery plan ready to implement in the event of a problem.

A recent study by internet services company Netcraft found that Verio was the most reliable hosting site and that it was closely followed by Tiscali.

Categories: Business Broadband

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