When changing jobs, well over a third of British workers unashamedly take sensitive information with them to their new employer, grapevine.com reports.
A survey by information management company Iron Mountain has discovered that 44 per cent of workers will leave not just with some spare Post-It notes, but having sent themselves some confidential data. On average across France, Germany, Spain and the UK, 51 per cent of leavers do this.
The saving grace is that most employees do not mean any harm by taking data with them; merely feeling they have the right to any information which they helped to create. Most of them intend it to be used as guidance in their next role, not to do any damage.
However, whether intentional or not, damage can be caused - particularly if the 'stolen' information includes customers' details. A company's reputation can be negatively impacted and consumer trust diminished.
The findings highlight the importance of securing databases and folders, especially those which can be accessed via the cloud and making sure defined confidentiality policies are in place. Employees should be made aware from the early recruitment stages that by taking sensitive data, they may be in breach of the terms and conditions of their employment contract.
Commenting on the results, Iron Mountain's Vice President, Patrick Keddy, told infosecurity-magazine.com: "These findings highlight the need for information management policies to be developed closely with human resources as part of Corporate Information Responsibility programme."
