Survey: 15% access medical info outside office
Two-thirds of employees expose sensitive data outside the workplace – some even exposing highly regulated and confidential information such as customer credit card information and social security numbers, according to a visual data breach survey from People Security, commissioned by 3M.
“A significant number of respondents surveyed have accessed personally identifiable information and protected health information outside of the office, with 26 percent accessing credit card numbers, 24 percent accessing social security numbers and 15 percent accessing medical information,” the report for the St. Paul, Minn.-based 3M stated.
The study included a survey of 800 working professionals and an experiment at an IT conference where attendee computer usage habits and data security choices were observed. The conference included management-level participants from industries including healthcare, financial services and government.
According to the report, convenience is more important than privacy for employees working outside the office. Twenty-six percent of conference internet kiosk users accessed corporate email on an unprotected network in a high-traffic public area, even though many had the opportunity to use a more secure corporate laptop or smart phone.
Attendees who used the internet kiosks had the choice of using a computer either equipped or not equipped with a privacy filter so neighbors and passersby couldn’t see the information they were accessing; the majority (65 percent) of kiosk users chose one without a privacy filter.
The study examined how privacy concerns affect employee productivity while working outside the office. Fifty-seven percent of working professionals surveyed said they have stopped working on their laptops because of privacy concerns in a public place and 80 percent thought that “prying eyes” posed at least some risk to their organization.
The study also found the majority of companies do not have policies or measures in place to protect sensitive information from computer screen snooping when employees are working in public places.
To read the full study, click here.
“A significant number of respondents surveyed have accessed personally identifiable information and protected health information outside of the office, with 26 percent accessing credit card numbers, 24 percent accessing social security numbers and 15 percent accessing medical information,” the report for the St. Paul, Minn.-based 3M stated.
The study included a survey of 800 working professionals and an experiment at an IT conference where attendee computer usage habits and data security choices were observed. The conference included management-level participants from industries including healthcare, financial services and government.
According to the report, convenience is more important than privacy for employees working outside the office. Twenty-six percent of conference internet kiosk users accessed corporate email on an unprotected network in a high-traffic public area, even though many had the opportunity to use a more secure corporate laptop or smart phone.
Attendees who used the internet kiosks had the choice of using a computer either equipped or not equipped with a privacy filter so neighbors and passersby couldn’t see the information they were accessing; the majority (65 percent) of kiosk users chose one without a privacy filter.
The study examined how privacy concerns affect employee productivity while working outside the office. Fifty-seven percent of working professionals surveyed said they have stopped working on their laptops because of privacy concerns in a public place and 80 percent thought that “prying eyes” posed at least some risk to their organization.
The study also found the majority of companies do not have policies or measures in place to protect sensitive information from computer screen snooping when employees are working in public places.
To read the full study, click here.