Employers say workers often to blame for IT breaches

03/14/2012

A new report suggests that many data breaches occur due to the actions of companies&#39; own employees.<br/><br/>The report - &quot;The Human Factor in Data Protection&quot; - notes that nearly 80 percent of business professionals blame their employees&#39; behaviors for at least one breach of their businesses&#39; sensitive information files within the past two years, whether on purpose or by accident.<br/><br/>The report also revealed the top causes of these lapses in security, which included employees&#39; losing laptops or other mobile technology devices, third-party mistakes and internal system glitches.<br/><br/>Furthermore, the study indicated that 70 percent of respondents surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that their current security systems were insufficient.<br/><br/>&quot;Our conclusion is that most threats posed by employees and those within companies are becoming more prevalent because of the mobility of the workforce, proliferation of mobile data-bearing devices, consumerization of IT, and the use of social media in the workplace,&quot; said Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of Ponemon Institute, which conducted the study. &quot;Combined with data-centric security technology, education and awareness among employees are essential.&quot;<br/><br/>Employment practices liability coverage may serve as an additional safety measure by which companies can mitigate their losses.