Despite studies indicating that data security is a top concern for executives and corporate boards — a development we previously blogged about here — barely half of employees are familiar with their company’s information security policies, according to a survey by Forrester Research.  The report explains, “only 56 percent of information workers in North America and Europe say that they are aware of their organisation’s current security policies.” 

This lack of awareness and employee training undoubtedly contributes to the ongoing problem of data breaches, many of which are caused by employee carelessness.  According to the same Forrester study, 31% of data breaches are attributable to simple loss or theft, such as employees losing laptops or USB drives; another 27% are caused by employees inadvertently misusing corporate assets.  A Ponemon Institute survey of 49 U.S. companies similarly found that negligent insiders were the root cause of 39% of data breaches studied. 

The Forrester report and similar surveys have found other surprisingly common data security weaknesses:Continue Reading Surveys Reveal Surprisingly Common Data Security Shortcomings