Employee engagement and good morale are two of the key components necessary to keep employees happy. Managers must strike a balance, though, to ensure that efforts taken to retain employees are not at the expense of the organization.
When it comes to the security of one’s enterprise, one group in particular stands out as the root cause for security leaks and breaches—young people. Recent survey findings from Aruba Networks cement this fact. Over 100,00 workers in 23 countries participated, and the results are staggering:
- Sixty percent of workers younger than 35 were willing to share their work and personal smartphones and other mobile devices with other people. And nearly one-fifth of them didn’t even have passwords on the devices. Many of those without passwords said they did so to be able to share the devices more easily.
- Also, 56% of the under 35-year-olds said they were willing to disobey their boss to get work done on a device, while 87% said they assumed their IT shops would keep them protected. Meanwhile, 31% also admitted they had lost data because of the misuse of a device.
- The age bracket with the highest propensity to experience data and identity theft is workers aged 25-34 years; survey respondents over age 55 are half as likely to have experienced identity theft or the loss of personal or client data.
- Men are 20% more likely than women to have lost personal or client data due to the misuse of a smartphone, the survey said.
Aruba described the survey’s findings as wake-up call to businesses that need to balance the drive by younger workers to succeed through use of mobile devices and the Internet, while also ensuring that company assets don’t suffer.
As younger workers become a more central part of every workplace, “businesses need to understand how to manage workplace productivity and morale, without endangering company security,” Aruba said.
For more statistics on the security habits of young people that may threaten your enterprise, read the full CSO article.
IT SECURITY SUPPORT: Blue Mountain Data Systems provides IT Security Support Services for Federal Civilian Agencies. Looking to find Vulnerability Scanning and Testing, Penetration Testing, Risk Assessment & FISMA Reporting for your Federal Agency? Call Paul Vesely at 703-502-3416.
