More than a third of all network devices attached to business nets are carrying at least one known security vulnerability, according to an annual report released by a global IT infrastructure company.

Dimension Data, headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, in its Network Barometer Report 2010 revealed that an analysis of data gathered from 235 organizations around the world showed that 38 percent of networking devices had vulnerabilities that had been publicly disclosed but remained unaddressed by their businesses.

The data was obtained electronically through technology lifecycle management assessments performed by Dimension Data. The assessment technology discovers installed assets on a network, identifies their lifecycle status and determines their maintenance coverage.

The 38 percent vulnerability number is significantly lower than the 73 percent found in last year’s report, but because the methodology in the 2010 report was altered from the 2009 one, results aren’t entirely compatible.

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