Men A Bigger Insider Threat Than Women
June 2006
Businesses in the UK face a serious security threat from their own employees, according to new research.Nearly a quarter (22%) of UK employees admitted to having illegally accessed sensitive internal information, such as salary details on their employer's IT systems, and over half (54%) would do so, given the opportunity, according to the study.
The research by online polling firm YouGov, commissioned by Microsoft, found that over a third of respondents said that human resources (HR) and payroll information were the most popular targets (36%), followed by their manager's personal notes (28%) and their colleagues' personal notes (25%). 6% said they would steal a colleague's password if the opportunity arose.
The survey also found that men are more dishonest than their female colleagues, with 27% of men, compared to 16% of women, admitting to having stolen confidential information. Workers in London and Scotland (25%) were the most likely to offend, with the most honest workers living in the Midlands (18%).
"The results of this survey were surprising" commented Annemarie Duffy, Infrastructure Server Marketing Team leader at Microsoft. "Not only are more than half of all UK employees prepared to snoop on confidential data, nearly a quarter have actually already done so. Particularly worrying is how vulnerable HR and payroll information has become; HR departments typically hold information that could be damaging for business and individuals if in the wrong hands. Details of salary, bank accounts, health records, National Insurance numbers, home address, family members could all be taken by a determined internal snooper or identity thief."
A third of respondents admitting that they would access documents, files, customer details and old accounts from previous employers if they still had access.
A Websense study revealed last month that men are more likely to surf personal websites at work than women. 65% of men surveyed said they access non-work sites while on the job, in comparison to 58% of women, according to that poll.
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