The Weakest Link In Data Protection – The Human Factor
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The Weakest Link In Data Protection - The Human Factor

A company’s greatest asset – it’s employees – can also be its weakest link, especially in an era wherein mobility and accessibility play a huge role in enhancing productivity.

Employee negligence puts an organisation in risk

78% of organisations have suffered from at least one data breach over the past two years and only 8% of organisations cited external attacks as the main reason for a data breach despite the growing concern with cybercrime.

Employee mobility may prove disastrous if not managed

35% of organisations cited loss of laptops or other mobile devices as the main cause of a data breach and 56% of the time, employees carry sensitive business data on their laptops, smartphones, tablets, or other mobile devices.

Employees do not report mobile data-bearing device losses

Only 19% of employees self-reported data breaches and 56% of organisations revealed that detection or discovery of data breaches is most often accidental.

10 Riskiest Employee Practices

  1. Accessing the Internet via unsecured wireless networks
  2. Failing to delete unnecessary but confidential information from computers
  3. Sharing passwords with others
  4. Using the same user names and passwords for different websites and/or online accounts
  5. Using generic USB drives that have not been properly encrypted to store confidential information
  6. Leaving computers unattended when outside the workplace
  7. Failing to notify organisations after losing USB drives that contain confidential data
  8. Failing to use privacy screens when remotely working on confidential company documents
  9. Carrying unnecessary sensitive information on laptops when travelling
  10. Using personally owned mobile devices to access the organisational network

3 Business Data Must-Haves

Data protection, to be effective, requires not only time and effort on the part of employees; companies need to do their share as well.

Data Protection Technologies – Only 43% of organisations fully protect their sensitive or confidential business information with data protection technologies.

Security Infrastructure – 64% of organisations need to re-architect their security infrastructure to protect against data stealers – hackers and malicious insiders. 62% of employees open attachments to or click linked embedded in spam.

Security Activities – 67% of organisations believed their security activities aren’t enough to stop APT’s or hackers. 60% of organisations don’t agree that their security activities thoroughly protect information assets from negligent or malicious insiders.


About IntelliTeK Pty Ltd

IntelliTeK is a managed IT services company in Sydney, Australia. With major vendor relationships and accreditations from the world’s leading IT companies including WatchGuard, Microsoft, Trend Micro and Amazon Web Services, IntelliTeK have kept clients happy since 2007. 

IntelliTeK are always up to date with the latest cloud backup solutions which is why we only partner with the best in the industry. If your company isn’t fully equipped to fend off cyber criminals, then get in touch with us so we can discuss your options. Call us on 1300 768 779, email us at info@intellitek.com.au, fill out the web form, or have a Live Chat with us below.

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