The number of businesses outsourcing parts of their security infrastructure has fallen since the onset of the global economic downturn, according to research by IT and telecommunications analyst Ovum.

A survey of more than 500 CIOs found that 18% were currently outsourcing parts of their IT security capability. When the same study was conducted in 2007, the proportion was 23%.

What lies behind this reduction, Ovum claims, is the increasing complexity of regulatory compliance, which has been exacerbated by various banking and financial controversies during the course of the recession.

“The main reason for this shift away from IT security outsourcing is most likely a lack of confidence,” said Rhonda Ascierto, senior analyst at Ovum. “Some may find it difficult to obtain a measurable security metric from an outsourced provider because security is often reported only after negative security occurrences. If security is not breached then there is nothing to report.”