ObserveIT,
the leading insider threat management platform with more than 1,900
customers around the world, today announced findings from a global
survey of 600 IT leaders across various industries, which revealed that
organizations want to trust their employees when it comes to
cybersecurity, but to do so, they need to better leverage technology.
The research also found that employers should develop clear
cybersecurity protocols and invest more in employee training programs
and monitoring tools to verify safe user activity.
Since 2016, the average number of incidents involving employee or
contractor negligence has increased by 26 percent, and by 53 percent for
criminal and malicious insiders (Ponemon).
While employees are an organization’s biggest asset – whether they are
full-time, freelancers or contractors – they can also be a prime channel
for information loss via negligent or malicious actions. As such,
companies need to prioritize effective training programs across their
employee base, leverage precise monitoring tools to verify safe user
activity and ensure that clear protocols are in place for onboarding and
offboarding employees to prevent data loss.
Key findings from the survey include:
-
Technology can enhance trust between employers and employees: According
to the survey, on average, 46 percent of respondents agree that their
organization doesn’t have confidence in its workforce when it comes to
keeping valuable data and assets safe. This lack of trust is even
higher in the public sector (53 percent), IT and technology services
(52 percent) and manufacturing (51 percent). With an evolving risk
environment and employee trust being highly important, 92 percent of
respondents agree that investment in new technologies to monitor
insider threats and verify user activity will be crucial for keeping
information secure over the next 18 months. -
Training, policies and technology should be prioritized: Organizations
also have an opportunity to build trust via training and policies. The
survey found that 43 percent of organizations don’t have a policy that
prohibits staff from taking IP/data with them when leaving the
organization. Further, 67 percent of respondents say remote work is
allowed in their organization, and 42 percent report
contractors/freelancers use personal devices for work activity. With
an evolving work environment and more devices being used to access
company information, organizations need to establish clear protocols
for all users handling data and IP regardless of location, device or
employment status. -
Employers should make employees aware of the ramifications of data
leakage: Most employees aren’t aware of the repercussions that
follow leaking information either accidentally or maliciously. Almost
60 percent of organizations don’t explain the contractual penalties
for putting their organizations at risk and only 36 percent of IT
leaders feel that cybersecurity is extremely important to their
organizations’ general employees. As such, employers need to ensure
consequences of negligent or malicious leakage are well-defined and
communicated to employees.
“The workforce is changing rapidly as remote work becomes commonplace
and more companies rely on freelancers and contractors to support daily
activities,” said Mike McKee, CEO of ObserveIT. “Trusting employees to
keep valuable information safe should start at the top with effective
training, clear guidelines and verification via technology for all
users.”
ObserveIT commissioned Vanson Bourne to conduct 600 interviews with
senior IT decision makers on the topic of trust within the workplace.
Respondents were from organizations in the private and public sector
with 2,500 or more employees, across the U.S., EMEA and APAC.
To learn more about ObserveIT’s survey visit here.
For more information on how ObserveIT empowers security teams to
proactively detect insider threats, streamline the investigation process
and enable rapid response, visit here.
For a free trial of ObserveIT 7.7, visit here.
About ObserveIT
ObserveIT is the leading Insider Threat
Management solution with more than 1,900 customers across 87 countries.
ObserveIT is the only solution that empowers security teams to
proactively detect insider threats, streamline the investigation
process, and enable rapid response. With 350+ out-of-the-box insider
threat indicators of compromise, rich metadata and outstanding search
capability and playback of any policy violation, ObserveIT provides
comprehensive visibility into what people – contractors, privileged
users and high-risk users – are doing, and reduces investigation time
from weeks or months to days. For more information visit: www.observeit.com.
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