Around 44% of organisations in the UK and Germany believe that at least one member of their senior management has lost a mobile device in the last year, causing a serious threat to work-related data.
The research, conducted by Vanson Bourne, found that 39% of those in senior management had had a device stolen, with 54% of organisations stating that a non-senior management employee lost a device, and 49% reporting device theft in the past year alone.
The research revealed that 93% of missing devices contained work related data, with 49% of devices containing confidential emails, 38% storing confidential files or documents, 24% holding customer data, and 15% having financial data stored on them.
Despite the risks involved, companies are unable to control the data that leaves the office premises as 48% of the respondents claimed that they cannot keep track of how employees take data with them, and 54% confessed that data can be secured in a better way.
However, organisations are not taking enough security measurements as 25% do not specify about protecting the data with either encryption or passwords.
IronKey EMEA vice president Nicholas Banks said: "Even amidst continued warnings about data security, and with data breaches making headlines on an almost daily basis, organisations are still not able to secure their intellectual property.
"The benefits of encryption and password protection are not new, but businesses are simply not enforcing basic security practices."
