The study – part of the ISACA IT Risk/Reward program – also found that there are concerns about cloud computing in the UK.
Interestingly, the association, which has more than 95,000 members worldwide, revealed that just 31% said a mobile device supplied by the company is riskiest to their IT operation.
Despite their concerns, IT professionals are pragmatic about balancing risks with rewards and are actively involved in managing mobile security.
More than 8 out of 10 have a security policy in place for mobile computing, although 31% admit their policy needs updating or communicating to staff.
According to Rolf von Roessing, the association's international vice president, the Risk/Reward Barometer is a reliable and trusted indicator for senior IT and business managers.
"The opportunities and rewards in IT are there, but new risks and cyber threats are rapidly becoming part of our day-to-day reality. Protection and risk management are more important than ever, and they should be seen as strategic priorities", he said.
Expanding the reach of the results reveals that 45% of European members though personal mobile devices were the riskiest in a work environment, whilst 46% said a work-supplied mobile device was riskiest.
On the subject of cloud computing, meanwhile, both UK and European respondents were slow to embrace cloud computing, despite it being considered a key IT trend by other region,
47% of Brits and 43% of Europeans said that they believed the risks of cloud computing outweigh the benefits. 20% of the UK sample added that they have not finalised their plans with regard to cloud computing at the time of the survey.
The three frequently cited cloud concerns, meanwhile, are data security, loss of control, and issues surrounding ownership of data.
This is in stark difference to the US where this year's Barometer shows that the number of enterprises that do not use cloud for any IT services has decreased by 5 points to 21%.
The number of US enterprises that plan to use cloud computing for mission-critical IT services has increased four points to 14%.
This shift in attitude, says ISACA, matches a growing spend on the cloud model as enterprises seek lower total cost of ownership, greater efficiency and increased flexibility.
The IT Risk/Reward Barometer is based on March 2011 online poll of 2,765 ISACA members worldwide. The European results are based on 657 respondents, of which 147 are UK-based.
The study, now in its second year, seeks to gauge current attitudes and organisational behaviours related to the risks and rewards associated with IT projects and emerging trends.