EDITOR’S QUESTION
HOW CAN
ORGANISATIONS
ENSURE THEIR
DIGITAL CLUTTER
DOES NOT CLOUD
THEIR DATA SECURITY
PRACTICES?
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B
usinesses are putting themselves at
increased risk of losing data by not
curbing the actions of current and
former employees.
A total of 25% of workers in South Africa
still have access to files and documents from
a previous employer, putting the integrity
of data and company livelihood at risk,
according to the Sorting out Digital Clutter in
Business research from Kaspersky Lab.
Former employees can also use this data for
their own purposes, for example in a new
workplace, or they may accidentally delete
or damage it. As a result, data recovery will
require time and effort, which otherwise
could be spent on more useful business tasks.
With every business today drowning in
digital files, using collaboration applications,
online documents, and file sharing services,
it can be hard for them to keep track of what
data resides where, who has access to it,
when and how. However, this lack of clarity
when it comes to ‘digital clutter’ is not only
an organisational headache; failing to lock
down data that lives online could pose a
disadvantage or even a threat to business.
The risk of unauthorised access to work files
may not come from the most obvious party
24
INTELLIGENTCIO
– workers that are no longer with a company
but were not cut off from the corporate email
service, messenger app or Google documents.
The situation is especially worrying as
these assets include intellectual property,
commercial secrets or other protected or
confidential data that, if let loose, could be
used by cybercriminals or competitors to their
own advantage. Among the South African
respondents that Kaspersky Lab surveyed,
76% admitted working with documents that
contain different kinds of sensitive data.
The study also found that due to digital data
mess, it takes employees’ time to find the
right document or data stored in different
places. A total of 62% of office staff found
it difficult to locate a document or file while
at work, while 52% also use the same device
for work and personal use which means
that information on different devices can
be duplicated or become outdated, causing
confusion and possible errors at work.
This digital clutter may also lead to data
compromise if it falls into the hands of
a third party, or even a competitor. The
consequences of this could take the form
of penalties and lawsuits with clients, as
a result of violation of an NDA or data
protection legislation.
The problem of proper access to work
assets is also highlighted by the fact that
just under a third (28%) of South African
workers admit to sharing their username and
password credentials for a work device with
a co-worker.
Bad password habits and a laissez-faire
attitude to sensitive corporate data may
seem harmless enough and might not
directly lead to a breach, however it does
point towards a need for wider education of
the risks.
“Digital files in disarray and uncontrolled
access to data can sometimes lead to
breaches and cyber-incidents but, in
most cases, will likely result in office work
disruption, wasted time and lost energy
associated with recovering missing files,” said
Sergey Martsynkyan, Head of B2B Product
Marketing at Kaspersky Lab.
“Combating clutter, carefully managing
access rights and using cybersecurity
solutions is not only about protecting
against cyberthreats, it is a guarantee of
effective work without interruptions, where
all files are in the right place and employees
can allocate their time to achieving
business goals, having all the data they
need at hand.”
www.intelligentcio.com