AUSTIN, Texas, July 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Employee
negligence, which may be caused by multitasking and working long
hours, can result in insider threats and cost companies millions of
dollars each year. It can cost a U.S. company as much as
$1.5 million and Germany companies €1.6 million in time wasted
responding to security incidents caused by human error, according
to a new survey of IT and IT security practitioners in the U.S. and
Germany. The survey, commissioned
by Raytheon|Websense and independently conducted by the information
security industry leader Ponemon Institute, also revealed that 70
percent of U.S. survey respondents and 64 percent of German
respondents report that more security incidents are caused by
unintentional mistakes than intentional and/or malicious acts.
The survey report, "The Unintentional Insider Risk in
United States and German
Organizations," found that while there are similarities in how U.S.
and German organizations perceive insider threats, there are also
clear cultural differences in the causes of unintentional insider
risk. German respondents are more likely to agree that their
organizations do not have the necessary safeguards in place to
protect against careless employees (54 percent). U.S. respondents
reported that employees are not properly trained to follow data
security policies (60 percent) and that senior executives do not
consider data security a priority (50 percent).
"Maliciousness is tagged as the leading cause in insider threat
discussions, but the impact of negligence cannot be overlooked,"
said Ed Hammersla, president of
Raytheon|Websense. "As the Ponemon study reveals, security
incidents are caused by negligence which leads to a decrease in IT
productivity. Workplace stress, multitasking, long hours and a lack
of resources and budget are the biggest contributors to employee
negligence. Having programs in place that include a mixture of
training, policy and technology are vital to addressing insider
threats before they become a major issue."
Additional key findings include:
- Unintentional employee negligence severely diminishes the
productivity of the IT function according to 73 percent of U.S.
respondents and 67 percent of German respondents.
- Long hours and multitasking are red flags for risk.
Multitaskers are more likely to be careless or negligent according
to 79 percent of U.S. respondents and 81 percent of German
respondents.
- German respondents are more likely to limit practices that can
create unintentional risk (55 percent), while their American
counterparts prefer to monitor employees' behavior (63
percent).
- In both the U.S. and Germany,
IT security practitioners spend an average of almost three hours
each day dealing with the security risks caused by employee
mistakes or negligence.
- Both German and U.S. respondents report ordinary users,
contractors or third-parties pose the biggest threat to
security.
Further Information
To download the full
Raytheon|Websense Survey on Unintentional Insider Risk, please
visit:
http://www.raytheoncyber.com/spotlight/ponemon/index.html
Raytheon|Websense is also conducting a webinar on Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 1 p.m. ET to share the survey findings. To
register, please visit:
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/webinars/security-risks-of-negligent/?utm_source=Raytheon&utm_medium=Mix&utm_campaign=Webinar
Methodology
The Raytheon|Websense Unintentional
Insider Risk Survey was independently conducted by the Ponemon
Insttute. The responses were generated from a survey sample of
1,071 IT and IT security practitioners in the U.S. and Germany.
Germany is often seen as being
on the cutting edge of deploying security technology and strictly
enforcing security policies. The purpose of the survey was to
determine if cultural differences in the workplace would impact how
German and U.S. IT security practitioners manage insider threat,
and to determine if and how characteristics of negligent insiders
differ between the two countries.
About the Ponemon Institute
The Ponemon Institute is
dedicated to advancing responsible information and privacy
management practices in business and government. To achieve this
objective, the Institute conducts independent research, educates
leaders from the private and public sectors, and verifies the
privacy and data protection practices of organizations in a variety
of industries. For more information, visit
http://www.ponemon.org.
About Raytheon|Websense
On May
29, 2015, Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) and Vista Equity
Partners completed a joint venture transaction creating a new
company that combines Websense, a Vista Equity portfolio company,
and Raytheon Cyber Products, a product line of Raytheon's
Intelligence, Information and Services business. The newly-formed
commercial cybersecurity company will be known on an interim basis
as Raytheon|Websense. The company expects to introduce a new brand
identity upon completion of standard organizational integration
activity.
Media Contact:
Robert
Durand
rdurand@websense.com
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/survey-finds-employee-negligence-is-leading-cause-of-insider-threats-in-the-us-and-germany-300121021.html
SOURCE Raytheon|Websense