A Risk Worth Taking?

It’s bad enough when an accidental insider threat compromises an organization’s security, but there’s something worse when it’s the result of a malicious past, or current employee, and according to the results of a recent survey, that’s something all employers should be worried about. In a recent study conducted by Harris Interactive, involving participants from the U.S., Great Britain and Australia, employees admitted they would knowingly do something against corporate policy with data – whether it was forwarding electronic files to a non-employee, copying electronic files to take with them when they leave or perhaps most disturbing, admitting they would be comfortable selling corporate data to a third-party. What this says about the morals and ethics of these employees is actually probably better left unsaid, but if organizations take away one thing only from the results of this survey it should be this: Get the right privilege management policies in place ASAP. If the results of this survey are to be taken seriously, there’s a good chance you have a malicious employee sitting in your organization right now. The longer you go without implementing the proper security policies, the greater the risk that employee will capitalize on the opportunity to share sensitive corporate data. Is that a risk you are willing to take?