A new survey by Protiviti reports that despite overwhelming reliance by businesses on technology and an increase on information, the majority of companies don't place enough emphasis on IT risks. Risks could include not having a good data backup plan and disaster backup.

The firm's 2011 IT Audit Benchmarking Survey shows that organizations, including about 25 percent with revenues up to $1 billion, are not conducting any kind of IT risk assessment. In fact, 42 percent of organizations acknowledge there are parts of their IT audit plan they can't address sufficiently due to a lack of resources and expertise.

"There are simply too many risks associated with the pervasive use of technology including social media and mobile devices and not enough focus on identifying and managing those risks," said Bob Hirth, Protiviti executive vice president and leader of the firm's global internal audit and financial controls practice. "Businesses have to get serious about addressing IT risks or they will fall victim to their own vulnerabilities. We hope that our survey data and insights will inspire organizations to take a hard look at the effectiveness of their IT audit function."

InformationWeek wrote an article on data backup risks businesses can't take, and one is lack of planning, which the website called "planning purgatory." The website said businesses may be able to get away without backup for a while, but asked "are you really willing to wager your entire business on that?"