Dive Brief:
- According to a recent survey of 500 IT decision makers and 4000 employees, finance and HR ranked #1 and #2 when it came to posing a security threat to their organizations.
- The survey, conducted by technology research firm Loudhouse on behalf of Clearswift, a global cybersecurity and data loss prevention provider, found that 46% rated finance and 39% rated HR as the top two internal data security threats.
- More specifically, male, office-based middle managers in the finance department are viewed as most likely to present an internal security threat, accidental or malicious, by their employers.
Dive Insight:
Among other survey results, U.S. security professionals estimated 54% of the workforce is in a position where they might cause an accidental security breach, while 5% are seen as having the potential to cause a malicious one.
“Despite all the security worries about people working out of the office on whatever devices they want, those in the office actually have easier access to sensitive data, so are more likely to lose it,” explains Heath Davies, chief executive officer, Clearswift. "We're not proposing targeting individuals, but if you can understand the combination of factors that make certain people in certain roles more of a risk, you can focus your resources on ensuring those breaches don't happen."
For example, he says, an employer could provide tailored security training or put in more sophisticated layers of security around particular segments of the business. With detailed understanding of the true nature of the threats from inside their own organizations, Davies adds, and adaptive security technology, companies are in a much better position to identify the challenges and deploy the right solutions in the right places.
As for HR being the second-rated risk, it makes sense considering that HR systems are loaded with very sensitive employee and employer data, right in line behind financial data as a company asset.
