Weak Security Practices Endanger Enterprises

Over the last few years, cyber-security vulnerabilities and threats have grown rapidly, and addressing them has become infinitely more complex. At this point, it is obvious that it's not a question of whether a breach will occur, but when. Inboxes, Web pages, databases and more are all under heavy assault. Worse, a breach has growing economic consequences for companies large and small. It can damage a brand's image and can also hemorrhage money. A recent report from SailPoint, "2016 Market Pulse Survey: Weak Security Practices Leave Organizations Exposed," paints a disturbing picture of the current situation. The study of 1,000 office workers globally found that a shocking number of them are willing to steal and sell passwords to third-party organizations (in many cases, for less than $1,000). Another problem is that organizations are slow to cut off systems access when an employee leaves. In addition, shadow IT, which may circumvent security controls, is rampant. According to the report, "No company is safe from attacks, and the method by which information is taken is slowly changing. The commonality across almost every breach is that hackers are now targeting the weakest link in the security infrastructure: people." Here's a look at some of the report's key findings.