Junior Sales People Worst for Security

March 2007

MessageLabs carried out research to determine who IT Directors should most fear and favour in the workplace, the angels and demons of business security.

Based on the insights of almost one thousand UK and US IT decisions makers, the worst culprits of security breaches are junior sales men and women between the ages of 26-35 years old, who are multi-taskers and tech savvy, using applications such as email, instant messenger, VoIP, and the web, in any combination, without considering the potential dangers of dividing their concentration levels so thinly. On the other hand, the angels of the workforce, those most knowledgeable on security matters, are the techies: middle management males between the ages of 26-35 years old who work within the technology function.

"Today’s small businesses need to be vigilant about both external and internal security threats. With almost half of all businesses not providing adequate IT security training and the threat landscape constantly evolving, the battle to protect one’s business from online risks is an arduous one," said Mark Sunner, Chief Security Analyst, MessageLabs.

This research, conducted by Vanson Bourne on behalf of MessageLabs, reveals the internal weaknesses small businesses are facing managing external threats.

"A business’s best assets and worst threats can be one and the same as the worst offenders are likely to be the best revenue generators. Removing the culprits is obviously not an option, what should be removed is the ability to be a threat," Sunner said. "Employing a managed services approach to security would be a businesses best appointment and omit the risks and threats hampering other employees."

Other statistics

  • More than 75 percent of all respondents in the US and UK don’t expect spam to ever cease being a problem

  • Almost a third of all small business respondents have been impacted by a malware or virus attack

  • Only 53 percent of small businesses have the right IT security procedures in place compared to 69 percent of enterprise companies

  • More than 40 percent of the companies surveyed did not provide security training to staff

  • Less than half of the organizations surveyed, 21 percent in the UK and 41 percent in the US, are confident that employees will not cause a security breach



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