Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of businesses claim that they stop a data breach every day.
A survey conducted by WinMagic released results from 250 IT managers and 1,000 employees and found that 41 percent of employees still believe IT security is the sole responsibility of the IT department. However, 37 percent say they have a role to play in IT security as well.
A fifth of IT managers want to be able to empower employees to use personal devices to access work documents even though many of them refuse to be held responsible for IT security. Only 36 percent felt such access should be restricted to approved employees.
Beyond hackers (24 percent), IT managers rated employees as the second biggest risk to security. Employees agreed that they were a risk with 17 percent admitting that they are “somewhat likely” to open an attachment from an unknown sender. Unprotected devices also pose a big risk.
“Encryption itself can be a complex task open to human error. IT managers must recognise this and ensure they have the processes and tools in place to facilitate effective encryption across the entire device estate. Devices change and move as much as the data itself and encryption is not a tick box task. By using automation and effective tools, businesses can ensure that the last of defence from hackers and human error, is robust and minimises the chance and impact of a data breach,” said Andreas Jensen, enterprise director for EMEA at WinMagic.
