From: InfoSec News (alertsinfosecnews.org)
Date: Wed Dec 12 2007 - 00:13:46 CST

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http://www.techworld.com/security/news/index.cfm?newsID=10899

By Tom Jowitt
Techworld
11 December 2007

Employees have a careless and even negligent attitude to corporate data
and infrastructure, finds a survey from online backup service provider
Databarracks.

The survey of more than 100 UK office workers found that 84 percent of
workers felt they could not do their job for more than half a day if
they lost access to corporate data. Meanwhile, 43 percent of respondents
said they could not cope for any period without access.

Yet despite this obvious high dependency on access to corporate data,
many staff have an apathetic attitude to their corporate infrastructure.
More than half (57 percent) said they had at some point lost an office
laptop, Blackberry or USB stick. It seems that the favourite places to
lose these devices are in the pub, bar or restaurant.

Nearly two thirds (63 percent) of respondents have accidentally deleted
data on corporate networks, whilst 69 percent admitted to saving more
than 10 important work files on their PCs alone (i.e. no backups), which
could cause disruption if that for example the equipment was stolen or
damaged.

In an age where there is little loyalty in the business environment ,
either from the company to staff (or vice versa), it is perhaps no
surprise then that nearly three quarters (77 percent) of respondents
said they would save their mobile phone first, over their work PC, if
both were on fire.

Additionally, 77 percent said they stored personal content on their
office network or PC, a trend that Databarracks feels increases the risk
of malware and puts strain on corporate resources.

And it seems that the green message is just not getting through to a
segment of staff either, with 24 percent stating they never switched off
their computer at the end of the day. Only 23 percent said they
sometimes closed down.

More than half (55 percent) also feel that their company is ill prepared
for environmental disasters, with 55 percent feeling their company
should plan better for floods etc. This survey is not the first to point
out how ill-prepared some IT departments are for natural disasters.

"This research paints a frightening picture for UK organisations," said
Peter Groucutt, MD of Databarracks. "Almost every business, irrelevant
of sector, is reliant on the information stored on its IT network to
manage day-to-day operations."

"This dependence makes it critical for organisations and their employees
to protect their network information, yet our survey shows carelessness
and even negligence among many respondents, who have a haphazard view of
how corporate data should be handled," he added.

It is perhaps hardly surprising then that the online backup provider
advises that "more organisations have to start seriously considering
secure online backup to protect themselves from unforeseen events."

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