Security made it to Asia's top 10 IT priorities, which comes as little surprise given the ever increasing threat of viruses, malware, identity theft and phishing scams.

Industry observers said enterprise security requirements will continue to escalate as organizations adopt more Internet applications.

Allan Bell, Asia-Pacific marketing director of security company McAfee, said: "Vulnerabilities are growing at a faster pace and cybercriminals are attacking in more sophisticated ways. With more assets online than ever before, organizations are focusing on improving their security compliance."

Greg Dixon, Cisco Systems' IT director for Asia-Pacific and Japan, agreed that the security challenge is mounting, though not insurmountable.

Dixon explained: "There is no doubt that as organizations leverage the benefits of technology, and now with Web 2.0 for example, they continue to increase their surface area contact with the outside world.

"Information is increasingly portable and available in wider dimensions than ever before. However, when strategically architected, there is no reason the integrated benefits of increased capability, integrity and resilience as well as cost effectiveness cannot be achieved," he added.

Security issues seem to be a priority for a higher number of large enterprises compared to SMBs (small and medium-sized businesses). In 12 months' time, however, more respondents in both groups said security will be a priority. Security also seems to be less of a concern among businesses in the developing countries like Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.