Bored and distracted employees are biggest potential information security risk

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Published: Tuesday, 13 June 2017 08:26

Employees who become distracted at work are more likely to be the cause of human error and a potential security risk, according to a poll conducted by Centrify at Infosec Europe.

While more than a third (35 percent) of survey respondents cite distraction and boredom as the main cause of human error, other causes include heavy workloads (19 percent), excessive policies and compliance regulations (5 percent), social media (5 percent) and password sharing (4 percent). Poor management is also highlighted by 11 percent of security professionals, while 8 percent believe human error is caused by not recognising our data security responsibilities at work.

According to the survey, which examined how human error might lead to data security risks within organizations, over half (57 percent) believe businesses will eventually trust technology enough to replace employees as a way of avoiding human error in the workplace.

Despite the potential risks of human error at work, however, nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of respondents feel that it is the responsibility of the employee, rather than technology, to ensure that their company avoids a potential data breach.

“It’s interesting that the majority of security professionals we surveyed are confident that businesses will trust technology enough to replace people so that fewer mistakes are made at work, yet on the other hand firmly put the responsibility for data security in the hands of employees rather than technology,” comments Andy Heather, VP and managing director, Centrify EMEA.

Centrify polled 165 respondents at Infosec Europe 2017 in London between 6th and 7th June 2017.