Execs bypass system security
No time for rules
Published: 13 February 2009 15:11 GMT by Nick Heath
Show related articlesExecutives are ignoring rules aimed at preventing companies from losing data as they stop the execs from getting their job done.
More than three-quarters of senior managers in large organisations in the UK bypass policies to speed up their job, the survey by the National Computing Centre (NCC) and software specialist Erudine found.
Just under half of those managers ignoring policies - such as social networking bans and restrictions on the movement of data - told the NCC they did "what they feel is appropriate to get the job done" and a quarter of those had developed their own work-around processes.
Little more than a third of senior managers believed that sticking to policies gave them a greater degree of flexibility when working.
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The survey questioned senior professionals from 98 private and public sector organisations.
NCC warned that the survey reveals it is risky for companies to believe that strict polices were enough to protect corporate systems.
Michael Dean, group marketing manager at the NCC said in a statement: "This report confirms our fears that in a climate of financial uncertainty many board members are not aware of the reputational risks their organisations are Running.
"Information is more fluid than credit these days and we urge company boards to review their policies and take note of the points raised in this report."
Employees remained keenly aware of the risk associated with bypassing security policies, with nearly three-quarters (70 per cent) recognising the danger of loss of reputation and customer confidence and just under half (42.2 per cent) aware of fines by regulators.
The report says that security policies need to be workable and not so cumbersome that staff decide to work around them.
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