Studies: Despite increased data breaches customers remain loyal

Why take the risk? About half (48%) of those polled by Harris Interactivesay they take the information out of the office if their boss okays it while one-third say they take information home so they can work on projects from home rather than staying late at the office. Employees also remove sometimes-sensitive information to work over weekends or while on vacation (30%) and 16% only when the 'confidential information' is about him- or herself.

"Business leaders need to be aware of the changing attitudestoward company IP in the modern workplace," said Dale Quayle, CEO of FileTrek. "Today's workforce believes information is an asset to be shared, and while companieshave benefited from this collaborative attitude with new technologies and increasedproductivity, there are risks too. Few cloud services provide the securitynecessary to track where their confidential data goes. It's critical fortoday's management teams to be more IP aware to ensure data security."

Younger workers were more prone to take information home to work than older workers.

Some experts note that documents taken from office for work at home have led to data breaches, of which there were many in 2011. New data from Symantec and the Ponemon Institute, in fact, reveals that 'negligent insiders' are the leading causes of data breaches. More than one-third (39%) of businesses told researchers that employee negligence was the cause of a data breach.

"This year's report shows that insiders continue to pose a serious threat to the security of their organizations," said Francis deSouza, group president, Enterprise Products and Services, Symantec Corp. "This is particularly true as the increasing adoption of tablets, smart phones and cloud applications in the workplace means that employees are able to access corporate information anywhere, at any time. It is essential for companies to put the proper information protection policies and procedures in place to counterbalance these new realities."

Despite the increase in data breaches, fewer consumers are leaving companies who have had a breach.

Tags: building loyalty, data breach, FileTrek, Harris Interactive, loyalty marketing, online privacy, Symantec