Employees Frequently Bypass Security Policy To Do Their Jobs, Study Says

A growing number of workers admit to breaking company security policies in order to get their work done, according to a new poll published today.

The poll of 1,347 workers, conducted by Harris Interactive and sponsored by Fiberlink, indicates that 12 percent of respondents admit to knowingly violating the policies put in place by their companies' IT departments in order to get their work done.

"We see this as a mobility wake-up call for all IT managers," says Jim Sheward, CEO of Fiberlink. "IT departments nationwide spend a lot of time and money on their compliance, usage, and access policies, but they only work if people follow the rules. Without extensive and effective compliance tools that ensure that IT policies are being followed, companies could face dangerous breaches."

In early 2008, AMR forecast that spending on governance, risk, and compliance would hit $33.5 billion in 2009. Instead, it reached only $28.7 billion, or 14 percent less than predicted. According to AMR analyst John Hagarty, this spending suffered because "this stuff is often considered discretionary -- a good business practice, but not essential."

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