UK workers most trustworthy with corporate data

gallery

UK workers are the most trustworthy when it comes to keeping confidential information within their organisations, with 70 per cent of them denying they would take any data at all, according to a new survey. The same research said that French and Italian employees were most likely to spirit corporate information away from the workplace.

But the survey of 600 office workers across Europe found that European businesses are increasingly at risk from insider attacks as employees increasingly transfer sensitive corporate data out of the businesses where they work.

The research,carried out by ICM Research on behalf of anti-virus company McAfee, found that more than a third of companies (37 per cent) have no policy on handling confidential documents. And where they do, the study found that 24 per cent of workers don't know what these policies are.

Over half (52 per cent) of European employees said they would take company data with them when they left. Confidential documents are most often taken out of businesses using flash disks. Almost half of office workers took financial records (45 per cent) out of the business using these devices, while over a third are transferring company business plans (38 per cent) and customer data (34 per cent).

USB memory sticks were the most popular choice of portable devices with over a quarter of employees (26 per cent) regularly using this device to remove information. However, 15 per cent of office workers have lent them to others.

The loss of such data can have serious implications with US regulations such as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GBLA) and the Sabarnes-Oxley Act (SOX), can put businesses in the dock should confidential data fall into the wrong hands.

"Whilst most organisations strive to comply with the legal policies that ensure the safe handling of sensitive information, they fail to recognise their employees as a potential Achilles Heel. Data exposure potentially leads to compliance issues and the loss of intellectual property - sending out company assets can also ultimately mark the end of the business," said Greg Day, security analyst at McAfee.

Day said that data loss from within organisations is a growing problem and companies need to look at this as well as protecting themselves from external threats.

Email to a friend

Print this page