Access to administrative passwords give IT free reign over confidential data
One-third of British information technology professionals snoop into fellow employees’ personal information, according to a new survey.
Password protection firm Cyber-Ark Software Inc. surveyed more than 200 IT professionals at a recent security conference in London.
The survey found that one in three IT employees admitted to snooping through company systems and peeking at confidential information such as private files, wage data, personal e-mails and HR data.
The IT staffers said they were able to access such private data because they knew administrative passwords that gave them anonymous access to company systems.
“It’s surprising to find out how rife snooping is in the workplace,” Calum Macleod, European director of Cyber-Ark, said in a statement.
“Gone are the days when you had to break into the filing cabinet in the personnel department to get at vital and highly confidential information. Now all you need to have is the administrative password, and you can snoop around most places, and it appears that is exactly what’s happening.”
Password protection firm Cyber-Ark Software Inc. surveyed more than 200 IT professionals at a recent security conference in London.
The survey found that one in three IT employees admitted to snooping through company systems and peeking at confidential information such as private files, wage data, personal e-mails and HR data.
The IT staffers said they were able to access such private data because they knew administrative passwords that gave them anonymous access to company systems.
“It’s surprising to find out how rife snooping is in the workplace,” Calum Macleod, European director of Cyber-Ark, said in a statement.
“Gone are the days when you had to break into the filing cabinet in the personnel department to get at vital and highly confidential information. Now all you need to have is the administrative password, and you can snoop around most places, and it appears that is exactly what’s happening.”
