One-Third of IT Staff Look Through Confidential Data: Survey

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

When you think about it, this should probably not be a shock to anyone. I mean, the temptation is there. And I’ve often wondered about how many passwords and how much access IT personnel have. But still, one-third?

According to a new survey, a third of IT staff take advantage of their position to look through private files, wage data, personal emails, and HR details.

Access to special administrative passwords means that IT department workers can rifle through confidential information with privileged and anonymous access to virtually any system within an organisation, the survey said. Source: PC Pro

We Say: One of the respondents said “Why does it surprise you that so many of us snoop around your files; wouldn’t YOU if you had secret access to anything you can get your hands on?” Thinking about it, as much as I hate to admit it … I probably would, at least a little. But what really surprised me the most was that the survey also revealed that more than 50% of them keep their administrator passwords on a Post-it (something I definitely would not do).