According to a study of consumers conducted by Kaspersky Lab, nearly half (49%) of employees surveyed consider protection from cyberthreats a shared responsibility, but only one tenth (12%) of employed respondents claim to be fully aware of their organizations IT security policies and rules.
Woburn, MA – January 10, 2018 – According to a study of consumers conducted by Kaspersky Lab, nearly half (49%) of employees surveyed consider protection from cyberthreats a shared responsibility, but only one tenth (12%) of employed respondents claim to be fully aware of their organizations IT security policies and rules.
The consumer survey of 7,993 full-time employees asked respondents about policies and responsibilities for corporate IT security. The results showed that a lack of IT security awareness remains a worrying reality for businesses around the world, considering that 24 percent of employees believe there are no established policies in their organizations at all.
This discrepancy could be particularly dangerous for small and medium sized businesses (SMBs), where there is no dedicated IT security function and responsibilities are distributed among IT and non-IT employees. According to Kaspersky Lab experts, top management, HR and finance specialists who have access to their company’s critical data are usually most at risk of being targeted by cybercriminals. Therefore, neglecting even basic security requirements, such as changing passwords or installing necessary updates, could jeopardize the overall protection of the organization.
“The issue of unaware staff can be a major challenge to overcome, especially for smaller businesses where a cybersecurity culture is still being developed,” said Vladimir Zapolyansky, head of SMB business at Kaspersky Lab. “Not only can employees themselves fall victim to cyberthreats, but they are also obliged to guard their company from those threats in the first place. In this regard, businesses should be educating staff and introducing easy-to-use – but still powerful – security solutions that make managing protection achievable for those who are not experts in IT security.”
To learn more about how employees can put businesses in danger, please read Kaspersky Lab’s previous report, “Human Factor in IT Security: How Employees are Making Businesses Vulnerable from Within” on our blog.
To find out more about the solutions Kaspersky Lab has to offer in its SMB portfolio, please visit our website here.
About Kaspersky Lab
Kaspersky Lab is a global cybersecurity company celebrating its 20 year anniversary in 2017. Kaspersky Lab’s deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into next generation security solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers around the globe. The company’s comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection and a number of specialized security solutions and services to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. Over 400 million users are protected by Kaspersky Lab technologies and we help 270,000 corporate clients protect what matters most to them. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.
For the latest in-depth information on security threat issues and trends, please visit:
Securelist | Information about Viruses, Hackers and Spam
Follow @Securelist on Twitter
Threatpost | The First Stop for Security News
Follow @Threatpost on Twitter
Media Contact:
Denise Berard
508.274.0704
