Document Management News

A third of workers would steal company data to help their family or friends get a job at their firm, and over 40% have already stolen company data in case they are made redundant during the recession.

These were findings from a survey commissioned by data security firm Cyber-Ark among 600 office workers in London's Canary Wharf and New York's Wall Street.

The survey found that 85% of respondents knew that pilfering corporate data was illegal but half said they couldn't help themselves as they thought it could prove useful in the future - particularly sales and future project information.

Employers though don't seem to be doing much about the problem. Almost two-thirds of survey respondents said that stealing data had become a lot easier this year, up from almost a third who said it was easier when a similar survey was conducted a year ago.

Because of the recession, a quarter of workers said they felt less loyal towards their employer.

Mark Fullbrook, UK director of Cyber-Ark, said, "Organisations must be willing to make improvements to how they monitor and control access to databases, networks and systems, even by those privileged users who have legitimate rights."