Vista - Employees, not hackers, cause most corporate data loss

Earlier this summer, we covered a report suggesting that the majority of corporate data loss comes from risky employee actions and systemic failures at the corporate level when it comes to implementing comprehensive IT security policies. Now, a new study from Compuware reports new information that supports Trend Micro's conclusions from back in July. The unsung heroes in the IT department, it turns out, may be doing a better job stopping outside hackers than they get credit for.
According to a new study (PDF, info required) from Compuware, IT departments should take a bow—only 1 percent of corporate data losses this past year were due to hackers. Unfortunately, the good news mostly ends there. Negligent employees are far and away the largest cause of data breaches, but IT managers also listed outsourcing and malicious employees (possibly ex-employees as well, one assumes) as two significant reasons why data breaches often occur.



Employees, not hackers, cause most corporate data loss

I can attest to this. Last year a fellow coworker decided to delete our old and archived e-mail off the server. How can some people be so smart but at the same time do dumb things. It's a mystery that will never get solved.