Gauging the level of vendor-created fear and hype around IT security will be the premise of a new study from Sydney-based research firm Hydrasight, with the key findings to be published in Computerworld.

According to Hydrasight, the IT risk and security landscape has changed during 2007, but has the enterprise kept up?

The new survey will gauge how organizations compare and all respondents will receive a free report from Hydrasight containing a summary of the results.

Hydrasight research director Michael Warrilow believes vendor hype around security appears to be on the wane, and most organizations are feeling comfortable with the state of their external defences.

"The risk is to remain vigilant and to not become complacent," Warrilow said, adding the success of denial-of-service attacks and/or unauthorized penetration appears low.

"Many consider themselves to be somewhat mature or better in incident response, IT risk management, and regulatory compliance."

The survey will also investigate whether business interest in IT security is likely to fall dramatically in 2008, unless disclosure law puts electronic privacy back on the agenda.

The survey is now online at www.hydrasight.com/surveys/security/cw.