Asian companies, primarily those in India, have vastly improved their information security practices, equalling and even surpassing many North American firms, according to a survey released Wednesday.

The State of Information Security Survey 2008 found that while Asian companies have made great progress, efforts to improve information security in Europe "appear to have stalled."

Consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and CIO and CSO magazines polled 7,000 information technology executives from 119 countries from March to June on the challenges of protecting corporate information assets.

"Boosted primarily by the widespread progress made by companies in India, Asian companies are now on par and many surpass North American companies in establishing leading practices in security," the survey found.

"Companies in India have reported strong, consistent, double-digit gains across virtually every security domain and have taken a strategic approach to security," said Mark Lobel of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

"Security efforts of Indian organizations have surpassed those of companies in the United States and we expect this trend to continue," he added.

The survey also found that "South American security and privacy practices are advancing so quickly, they are likely to surpass Europe's within two years."

According to the survey, more organizations than ever are encrypting databases (55 percent), laptops (50 percent), backup tapes (47 percent) and other media.

Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they were implementing an "overall information security strategy" which includes the increased use of intrusion detection software, firewalls and the disposal of outdated computer hardware.

Seventy-four percent of respondents said information security spending will either increase or stay the same over the next 12 months.