The survey, commissioned by data forensics firm Ibas, reveals shocking levels of digital kleptomania across Britain’s desktops and servers, a revelation that comes as no surprise to DataFort Founder & CEO Gavin Smith.

“Many employees have little regard for company policies on data usage,” says Smith. “A mailing list that may have cost thousands of pounds to acquire will often be copied and sent to a private e-mail account without a care for the moral and legal aspects of that action. Companies must accept data theft will happen and look at ways to limit damage and deter future crimes.”

The Ibas report lists e-mail and CD burners as the primary ‘getaway vehicles’ for office information and Smith recommends companies implement an automatic, offsite archiving solution to move data off the desktop onto secure servers. This approach means employees have ‘immediate’ access to only the most recent data (EG the last month’s worth of e-mail) but can quickly and easily access archived information.

“Crucially, DataFort provides an audit trail,” explains Smith. “It’s virtually impossible to track what employees do with a file, but companies can at least prove that a certain member of staff actually requested access to data. This information could prove vital in legal situations or when dealing with grievance complaints. More importantly, if employees know there is a chance that they can be traced accessing files, they may be less inclined to steal them in the first place.”

Smith also cites a well enforced data usage policy as another way of deterring information theft. Most employment contracts state that all work created becomes company property. While taking home the odd letter or memo is unlikely to have serious repercussions for a business, ‘stealing’ an entire customer database that has taken many years to build up could spell disaster.

Concludes Smith: “Few companies operate strict data ownership policies, and a relaxed, trusting office environment is preferable to a climate of suspicion and mistrust. However, wherever there’s an Internet browser and CD burner there’s a threat, and companies, especially SMEs, can’t afford to ignore the danger.”