By Lara Holmes

The results are based on responses from 3.475 organizations worldwide, 250 of them belong to organizations based in Latin America.

Symantec presented the findings of its survey on Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP), which, as measured by the CIP Participation Rate, revealed that globally there is a decline in knowledge and participation in such programs.

Compared to what happened in 2010, the companies surveyed in 2011 showed a CIP Participation Rate in government programs for the protection of 82%, representing a decline of 18 points over the previous edition. In Latin America, the participation rate is slightly higher, 88%.

Critical infrastructure providers come from industries such importance that, if their networks were successfully attacked and disabled, could generate a threat to national security.

Dean Turner, Director of Global Intelligence Network Symantec, thinks that companies and governments worldwide should implement more aggressive measures aimed at promoting and coordinating the protection of computer networks for critical sectors.