22% in US admit to potential abuse of private data

22% of US, 29% of Australian and 48% of British employees who have access to their employer’s or client’s private data, would feel comfortable doing something with that data, regardless if that access was intentional or accidental, according to a SailPoint survey.

Further, 10% of American, 12% of Australian and 27% of British employees with access admitted they would forward electronic files to a non-employee, and 9% of Americans, 8% of Australians and 24% of Britons of these same groups admitted they would copy electronic data and files to take with them when they leave a company.

The survey also questioned if an employee would feel comfortable profiting from proprietary information by selling it on the Internet.

While only 5% of American and 4% of Australian employees with access who answered the question selected this response, an alarming 24% of British employees with access said they would feel comfortable selling data.

Unfortunately, it’s quite easy these days for employees to sell personal data on the Internet and there are not enough controls in place to prevent this theft from happening.

It’s startling to see such a high number of Great Britain employees saying they would profit from selling proprietary data on the Internet. That’s a wake up call that companies need to take a more aggressive stance, particularly in certain geographies.

In addition to surveying employees about access to private, sensitive data, the survey also asked them about accessing corporate date through the use of mobile devices. The results highlight the importance of automatically de-provisioning employees given the proliferation of mobile devices in the workforce.

Specifically, 15% of American, 29% of British and 18% of Australian employees use their mobile devices to access their company’s private Intranet or portals.