Most students automatically assume that the primary cause of data loss for any organisation will be through hackers, malware and other external criminal entities. But in actual fact, this is not the case. A report has shown that only 1% of corporate data losses in the previous year were down to hackers. A report by the Ponemon Institute found that 88% of data breaches were caused by staff negligence.
The reality is that data loss is is far more likely to be due to a disgruntled employee who either wants to get their own back on the company or who sees a fast way of making an extra bit of ‘cash on the side’. Kevin Rowney from Symantec said, “in most cases people are motivated by revenge, fear or greed.”
Microsoft has warned that in today’s current economic climate, with employees facing uncertainty over their jobs, that companies should be on the lookout for an increase in “insider” security attacks.
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