From the press release:
Absolute(R) Software Corporation and the Ponemon Institute today announced the findings of a new study on the use of encryption on laptops by employees within corporations in the U.S. The study, “The Human Factor in Laptop Encryption: US Study,” revealed that more than half (56%) of business (non-IT) managers polled, disable the encryption solution on their laptops. Ninety-two percent of IT security practitioners report that someone in their organization has had a laptop lost or stolen and 71% report that it resulted in a data breach. Results indicate that it is employee behavior that undermines data protection efforts in corporate America. Companion studies of UK and Canadian companies are also available.
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“The Human Factor in Laptop Encryption: U.S. Study” key findings include:
- 92% of IT security practitioners report that someone in organization has had a laptop lost or stolen and 71% report that it resulted in a data breach;
- 56% of business managers have disengaged their laptop’s encryption;
- Only 45% of IT security practitioners report that their organization was able to prove the contents of missing laptops were encrypted;
- Only 52% of business managers – employees most likely to have access to the most sensitive data (personally identifiable information and/or intellectual property) – have employer-provided encryption;
- 57% of business managers either keep a written record of their encryption password, or share it with others in case they forget it;
- 61% of business managers share their passwords, compared to only 4% of IT managers; and,
- Business managers are much more likely than IT security practitioners to believe encryption makes it unnecessary to use other security measures for laptop protection.
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Highlights and the complete reports for “The Human Factor in Laptop Encryption” studies for the U.S., U.K. and Canada can be found at: www.absolute.com/humanfactor.
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