UK firms have experienced over 300,000 internal security breaches over the last 12 months, averaging 1,190 per day, according to a new a study commissioned by security software provider IS Decisions.
The research revealed that about 32% of organisations, with over 500 employees, experienced internal security breaches during the period.
Another 42% of the IT decision makers said ‘ignorant’ users provided the greatest security risk to their organisation, topping tech savvy users trying to leak out internal security protocols, or external visitors including clients, customers and suppliers.
IS Decisions chief executive Francois Amigorena said:"That coupled with the fact that insider threat is a complex issue to manage has led to IT professionals seemingly turning a blind eye to the issue.
The report also said that less than one in five of people within the organisation share passwords with co-workers.
About 67% of respondents said viruses were their top security concerns, while 47% said data loss and 39% said hacking.
The latest report also underlined the confusion around network management capabilities, with 69% of respondents under the false impression that Microsoft Active Directory allows managing concurrent logins.
"The reality is that it is a considerable problem, but the good news is there is a lot that IT departments can do to mitigate the risks," Amigorena added.
"It is a technology issue as well as a cultural one, and can be addressed from both of these angles.
"The insider threat is most likely to be down to the misuse and poor use of IT, which in turn is often caused by inadequate policies and practises.
