Companies are spending more of their IT budgets on security, according to a study by research firm IDC.

European firms are turning to security audits to identify gaps in their IT security, because of a fear of security breaches and regulatory requirements.

IDC said the increased levels of security spending are justified, as one in four companies it interviewed claimed their return on investment for security spending turned out to be "significantly higher" than anticipated.

Antivirus and firewall software, and hardware-based firewall appliances are the top three technologies currently deployed by European companies.

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