A recent report published by nCipher confirms what many business owners have known for a long time.  Their employees are the weakest link when it comes to data security.

The nCipher report, however, adds a disturbing exclamation point to the data with a few details you’re likely to find shocking.

First, fully 71 percent of C-Suite employees surveyed in the UK would knowingly and willingly cover up a data breach if doing so meant escaping the fines associated with it.  This, contrasted with just 57 percent of managers and directions.  The latter number is still distressingly high, but nothing compared with the C-suite.

Second, don’t make the mistake of thinking that it’s just the people you have installed in the corner office that are willing to put your business at risk. A disappointing 25 percent of office employees indicated that they’d be willing to sell corporate information for as little as £1000, with 5 percent of office employees saying that they’d simply give it away for free.  10 percent said they’d need at least £250 to make it worth their while.

Dan Turner, the CEO of Deep Secure, had this to say on reading the report:

“The cost of employee loyalty is staggeringly low.  With nearly half of all office workers admitting they would sell their company’s and clients’ most sensitive and valuable information, the business risk is not only undisputable, but immense in the age of GDPR and where customers no longer tolerate data breaches.

Given the prevalent use of digital and cyber tactics to exfiltrate this information, it’s critical that businesses invest in a security posture that will help them both detect and prevent company information from leaving the network.”

Wise words indeed. Unfortunately, given the realities above, that means keeping a closer eye on your own people.