Departing workers often take proprietary company data.(DATA SECURITY)

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

A recent survey shows that hen people leave their employer, many take proprietary company data with them.

Nearly 60% of employees who quit a job or were asked to leave reported stealing company data, according to a report by the Ponemon Institute. The survey was based on interviews with 945 adults who were laid off, fired, or changed jobs in the past year.

The research group found that 79% of individuals who admitted to taking data said they did so despite knowing that their former employer did not allow them to take internal company information.

"More and more people seem to feel entitled to information they create on the job, and an increase in mobility in the workforce means many employees don't have a lasting relationship with their employers," Ponemon Institute founder Larry Ponemon told The Washington Post. "Also, as you have more employees working from remote locations and on home computers, the concept of who really controls this data isn't often clear to people."

But it should be. Jon Groetzinger, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University Law School in Cleveland, told the Post that most companies require employees, upon hiring them, to sign contracts specifically stating they cannot take sensitive or proprietary company data. Also, employees who take such data when they leave a job may also violate state and federal laws, which can cost as much as $5 million in fines for a new employer caught using or profiting from it.

Of those surveyed, approximately 37% percent were asked to leave, 38% found a new job, and 21% moved on because they were anticipating a layoff. Immediately after leaving their former company, 61% took paper documents or hard files, 53% downloaded information onto a CD or DVD, and 42% downloaded information onto a USB memory stick, the study found.

Shockingly, the report also revealed that 24% of responders said they still had access to their employer's computer network after they left or were fired.

Kevin Rowney, founder of data loss prevention division at Symantec, which commissioned the Ponemon study, said many companies do not have the technology in place to be able to monitor when employees send e-mails containing sensitive company information, whether on purpose or unintentionally.

"Far too many companies seem to be very sloppy with network access governance," Rowney told the Post.

Print Get the Mag Weekly Updates