Many business risk losing key information due to the careless or indifferent attitudes of their staff, a new survey has found.
According to a survey by Databarracks, 57% of staff have lost important information while it was contained on an office laptop, Blackberry or USB stick.
Furthermore, it was found these losses often occur while staff are out socialising in pubs or restaurants, suggesting that alcohol is to blame.
However, many staff are careless when in the office with 63% of respondents admitting that they had accidentally deleted important information on their company’s network.
The survey also found that staff typically value their own personal data above that of their business’, with 77% saying they would try to save their mobile phone before their company laptop in the event of a fire.
Peter Groucutt, managing director of Databarracks, believes the survey has a stark message for UK businesses.
“Almost every business, irrelevant of sector, is reliant on the information stored on its IT network to manage day-to-day operations,” he said.
“This dependence makes it critical for organisations and their employees to protect their network information.
“Whilst employees can be educated to treat corporate data more carefully, human error will always be a factor, so this is not a problem that is going to disappear overnight.”
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2007
