A third of businesses have had data stolen

News Article - 20 July 2010
Category: Business

Over a third of IT professionals believe highly sensitive company data has found its way into the hands of competitors. According to a recent survey by Cyber-Ark, most companies believe disgruntled employees are the most likely cause of missing data. A further 28% suspected 'human error,' followed by data loss (10%) or a successful hacking attempt (10%) of a mobile device or laptop.

Of the information passed along to competitors, the customer database (26%) was the most commonly shared information. This was followed by R&D plans (13%). The survey, conducted in Spring 2010, questioned more than 400 senior IT professionals in both in the UK and the US. Many respondents were based at enterprise-class companies.

A relatively small year-on-year change in the number of respondents that suspected data loss to competitors has led experts to call for more to be done to protect valuable assets. In particular, further layers of control should be implemented to avoid 'human error' issues that could accidentally reveal sensitive financial information.  Flexible issuing of privileges on demand can help limit authorised access to databases and systems.

Snooping is also on the rise, with 41% of respondents claiming personal abuse of administrative passwords to gain access to confidential or sensitive information. This is an 8% increase on both 2008 and 2009 levels. US-based snooping commonly targeted customer database, whilst HR records were the most popular target for unauthorised access in the UK.

And while 88% of IT professionals believe administrative and privileged accounts should be monitored, only 70% actually do so. 33% fail to meet compliance regulations by turning a blind eye to what is going on within company networks.

With trading conditions toughening in the post-recession climate, companies can ill afford to lose valuable data. Robust IT security is one of the most important ways to secure key systems and help prevent them being snooped by unauthorised parties.

Access business software provides system-wide security benefits, offering firms several layers of in-built protection, both at the software and database levels. Access privileges can be set on an unlimited number of criteria, all the way down to field and option levels. This helps lock the data down, offering companies added protection by providing employees with only the necessary access required to work efficiently.

For more information, please call Access on 0845 345 3300.

Article keywords: business software, accounting solutions, IT professionals, accounting software, the access group, indusrty news

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