Given the growing frequency and severity of data breaches occurring in the US, properly protecting an organization’s assets from such threats has become critical.

An annual research report released recently by BDO Seidman, LLP, a leading accounting and consulting organization, identifies the most common risk factors among the 100 largest U.S. public technology companies as strong competition and consolidation (97 percent, also ranked as the primary risk factor in 2008 with 92 percent) and failure to develop new products or services (91 percent, ranked fifth last year with 84 percent).