CIOZone.com - Professional Network for CIOs and IT Professionals

A growing number of disgruntled former employees and a lack of adequate funding for IT security budgets are creating a case of double-trouble for corporations around the globe, a survey from Ernst & Young has found.

In its 12th annual Information Security Survey, Ernst & Young found that corporations are seriously concerned about reprisals from the growing numbers of laid off or fired employees. And they may have good reason to be fearful.

“With the economy still in recession, employees that are made redundant may feel resentful towards their previous employer in a number of ways that may affect the smooth operation of an organization,” said Paul van Kessel, global leader of Ernst & Young’s information technology risk and assurance practice. “Increasingly, the employer’s IT system has become a common target and data theft is also prevalent.”

The survey, which canvassed about 1,900 senior executives in 60 countries, found 75% of respondents were concerned with the risk of reprisals. Furthermore, 42% of respondents are already trying to understand the potential risks related to the issue and 26% are taking steps to mitigate them.

“It is paramount that companies undertake a specific risk assessment exercise to identify their potential exposure and put in place appropriate risk-based responses,” advised van Kessel.

The idea that extra precautions need to be taken to ensure networks aren’t at risk from disgruntled ex-employees, won’t come as a surprise to CIOs. Yet finding the money to put in place measures to combat the risk is a serious challenge. The survey found that less than half of respondents (40%) plan to increase their annual budgets for information security, while 52% planned to maintain the same level of spending.

Clearly CIOs need to do more, but they are having to balance priorities. “Information security is not immune to external economic forces and senior IT professionals will need to improve efficiency and effectiveness while keeping spending to a minimum,” said van Kessel.

In one other interesting finding from the survey, it seems that corporations are still not taking the security of laptop computers as seriously as they should, said Ernst & Young. Only 41% of respondents say they encrypt their laptops, with 17% planning to do so in the next year. The consulting firm said this was surprising given the number of breaches that have occurred due to loss or theft of laptops and the availability of affordable encryption options.

Comments (4)

	1. 11-11-2009 19:16
	Even if the threat is not overt, this risk is compounded in times like these by employees' tendency to hoard information to make themselves more valuable; companies often don't realize that when they dismiss someone, they are letting the only keys to certain IT kingdoms go with them. and it is costly to recover from that situation. Registered

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

	2. 11-12-2009 11:01
	It seems so backwards to spend so much time and money figuring out how to protect data and systems from disgruntled employees. Perhaps if that time and money had been spent growing the business less people would have to be let go. Registered

Ellen Pearlman

	3. 11-17-2009 10:03
	CIOs and CISOs should be concerned not only about the security threats of fired or laid-off employees but also with existing (re: disgruntled) current employees who often pose the greatest security threat to an organization.    Also, the study findings on the lack of laptop security is a bit puzzling given the number of high-profile incidents of laptop theft or loss that have occcurred in the past. Depending on the laptop in question and the sensitivity of the information contained on it, it can be like leaving a hard drive in a handbag. Registered

Tom Hoffman

	4. 11-17-2009 17:51
	Have to agree with Tom. Employees are now having to do more and work longer to make up for cutbacks and hiring freezes. Add to that recent surveys that show salaries are either stagnant or down for most IT workers and you get a recipe for a pretty disgruntled workforce. Registered

Mel Duvall

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.