Employees given access to too much data

A report from the Ponemon Institute has claimed that firms are finding it difficult to apply appropriate privileges to users with regards to confidential corporate data.

In the study, which surveyed more than  2,200 employees (both IT professionals and end users) from firms in Germany, France, the UK, and the US, over 66 per cent of all end users confessed that they were able to access data they should have no privileges to.

The Ponemon Institute’s chairman and founder, Dr Larry Ponemon, said:

“This research surfaces an important factor that is often overlooked: employees commonly have too much access to data, beyond what they need to do their jobs, and when that access is not tracked or audited, an attack that gains access to employee accounts can have devastating consequences.”

A further 80 per cent of IT professionals admitted that the company they work for fails to implement a data model that gives staff the fewest access privileges. A mere 57 per cent said appropriate action is taken to protect confidential data they access.

Many SMEs are far from being tech savvy, but this is a situation that needs to change. Data held on the company and the customers it serves is open misuse and, with cyber crime an increasingly prevalent issue, businesses need to be opening information security jobs. Such a strategy would be a wise move, ensuring that data is safe from falling into the wrong hands.