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Workers Take More Security Risks At Work Than At Home
Chris Crum
Staff Writer
2005-09-13
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
Trend Micro conducted a study that found some reasons that end users in enterprise environments are more likely to engage in riskier online behavior at work than at home.
The study involved 1,200 corporate end users in the United States, Germany, and Japan who participated in an online survey from Trend Micro. According the company,
Of the many findings, perhaps the most significant is the correlation between the presence of an IT department and end-user confidence in the security they expect against viruses, worms, spyware, spam, phishing, and pharming. These expectations often result in riskier online behavior that exacerbates IT's challenge to protect business operations from increasingly unpredictable threats.
Of those who responded, 39 percent of enterprise end users believed that IT could prevent them from falling victim to threats like spyware and phishing. This belief prompted many of them to admit bolder online behavior. Of those who admitted to engaging in bolder online behavior, 63 percent acknowledge that they are more comfortable clicking on suspicious links or visiting suspicious Web sites because IT has installed security software on their computers. Forty percent of those who admitted to engaging in riskier online behavior said it was because IT was available to provide support if problems occurred. Because of the correlation between IT's presence, end-user security expectations, and riskier end-user behavior, the study magnifies the importance for IT to ensure up-to-date security across the business network.
"Although end users have expectations of IT to educate and protect them, they may not always help in overcoming network security challenges. In fact, they could make it more difficult," said Max Cheng, general manager of Trend Micro's enterprise business segment. "Eye-opening revelations like these highlight the security challenges IT departments face within their own organizations and should motivate them to ensure greater protection across their enterprise."
Trend Micro's press release regarding the study has more details and lists some interesting statistics about enterprise security.
About the Author:
Chris Crum is a staff writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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