90% of Organizations Experienced Leakage or Loss of Sensitive or Confidential Documents Over Past Year

Ponemon Institute, LLC presents the results of the 2012 Confidential Documents at Risk Study.

The study focuses on the security threats associated with inadequate management of confidential business information contained in files such as spreadsheets, presentations and documents, especially when shared or synced. The study also identifies best practices for achieving stronger document-centric security.

The growing popularity of consumer-grade, browser-based file sharing applications, such as YouSendIt and Dropbox, has improved productivity within the enterprise, but at what cost? This study, which surveyed 622 IT and security practitioners with an average of more than 11 years of experience, answers this question.

Highlights:
90% of organizations represented in the study experienced leakage or loss of sensitive or confidential documents over the past 12-month period.
71% percent of respondents say that controlling sensitive or confidential documents is more difficult than controlling records in databases. 70% say documents accessed by mobile data-bearing devices such as smartphones and tablets present a significant security risk.
70% of respondents say that employees, contractors or business partners have very frequent or frequent access to sensitive or confidential documents, even though access to this information is not a job or role-related requirement.
59% say their organizations’ controls are ineffective at monitoring employees, contractors or other insiders who access these confidential documents. An even higher percentage (63%) do not believe they are effective at assigning privilege to employees, contractors and other insiders whose jobs or roles requires access to sensitive or confidential documents.

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