Ex-staff pose threat to data

20 Oct 2004

Be the first to comment

A Computing logo

One in five businesses run the risk of sensitive information falling into the hands of competitors by failing to remove access rights of former employees, research shows.

Some 23 per cent of companies are leaving corporate networks exposed to the threat of data theft and attacks by former staff by failing to revoke former staff IT access rights for weeks, months and in some cases years after the have left, according to research from Citrix.

The survey of 1,400 IT professionals shows that email access is the business tool most at risk when it came to ex-employees trying to access information remotely.

But confidential company documents, contact databases and administration systems were also at high-risk.

'Firms need to build in rules saying what people can and can not access from the corporate network,' said Thomas Raschke, IDC's programme manager for European security products and strategies.

'Access management is often an overlooked part of the business.'

Reader comments

Have your say on this article

All fields required. Your email address will not be displayed on the site.

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms & Conditions

  • Digg
  • Tweet

Newsletters

Sign up for our FREE newsletters

Will Google’s new privacy policy impact how you use its services?

Google recently said will consolidate more than 60 of its privacy policies into one, unifying customer data across most of its products. The announcement has met with a backlash in the US, while EU officials have asked Google to put its plans on hold so it can assess the privacy impact for users. Will you consider not using Google in the future as a result?

80 %

5 %

2 %

13 %