An international advisory network KPMG issued the Data Loss Barometer research. Its message is clear: Be afraid of your own employees more than of hackers.
KPMG warns that the attackers or rival companies find it much easier to corrupt your employees than look for vulnerabilities in security of your servers accessible from the Internet.
The research also summarized trends in the field of confidential corporate data loss in the last year. It is partly accredited to higher precaution due to remarkable publicity of data loss cases. Another reason is that the companies have not often reported minor data losses and the only cases that were made public involved information of thousands of clients or employees.
KPMG also informed that in case of thefts of portable computers and data storage media, the devices are no longer what the attackers are after but it is the data stored on them that matters. The disk security should be the basis of security in all companies.
The absence of security processes in companies is also a frequent problem. This also relates to the fact that many companies are not aware of their confidential data flow. This gives room to corrupt activities of the employees who can carry the information out of the company without anybody noticing.
In conclusion, KPMG warns the managers that they should not be off their guard due to the low numbers of incidents regarding data losses in the last year. The on-going economic recession could cause increase of deliberate data thefts by employees.
(source: KPMG’s press release, www.kpmg.com)