Ever wondered what is it that leads to data leaks, spying, phishing and other forms of hacking? According to experts, it is some common mistakes made by people that lead to biggest security breaches. And, these behavioral risks of employees vary depending on country and culture. Making some coutries more prone to security breaches than others.
A new study by Cisco spotlights the numerous risks taken by employees that can lead to the most prominent security concerns for businesses: the loss of corporate information. The study identifies common data leakage mistakes among workforces around the world and is based on surveys of more than 2,000 employees and IT professionals across 10 countries, including India, China, Germany, France, Italy, UK, Australia and Brazil.
The top 10 most noteworthy are :
1. One of five employees altered security settings on work devices to bypass IT policy so they could access unauthorised Web sites. This was most common in emerging economies like China, Brazil and India.
When asked why, more than half (52 per cent) of end Users who have changed the security settings to view restricted Web sites did so because they wanted to visit it regardless of their company’s policy; a third said, "it's no one's business" which sites they access.
2. Seven of 10 IT professionals said employee access of unauthorised applications and Web sites (eg unsanctioned social media, music download software and online shopping venues) ultimately resulted in as many as half of their companies' data loss incidents.
This belief was most common in countries like the United States (74 per cent) and India (79 per cent).
3. In the past year, two of five IT pros dealt with employees accessing unauthorised parts of a network or facility. This was most prevalent in China, where almost two of three respondents encountered this issue. Of those who reported this issue globally, two-thirds encountered multiple incidents in the past year, and 14 per cent encountered this issue monthly.
4. In a sign that corporate trade secrets aren't always secret, one of four employees (24 per cent) admitted verbally sharing sensitive information to non-employees, such as friends, family, or even strangers. When asked why, some of the most common answers included, 'I needed to bounce an idea off someone', 'I needed to vent', and 'I did not see anything wrong with it.'
5. In a sign that data isn't always in the hands of the right people, almost half of the employees surveyed (44 per cent) share work devices with others, such as non-employees, without supervision.
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