U.S. Workers Not Protecting Data Despite Threats

A Citrix study finds that U.S. workers are aware of threats to security and data. However, many fail to take basic security steps to protect their data.

Eighty-four percent of respondents feel their personal information is more vulnerable now than it was a year ago, and 69% said they expect that their personal information will be stolen sometime in their lifetimes.

There are things that workers can do to better protect their data. Unfortunately, not everyone is doing them. Seventy percent have not installed security software on their smartphones or tablets, and 62% haven’t strengthened their WiFi password. Another 51% don’t change their passwords frequently enough.

Sixty-one percent said they don’t have a response plan to data breaches in place, and 89% believe that dealing with the theft or loss of their personal information would be a more difficult chore than doing their taxes.

Workers like to keep their private data in one place, making a data breach even scarier: 38% of respondents said they have a “private folder” on their PC or mobile device they don’t want others to see. It’s even worse among younger people: 57% of Millennials say they have such a folder.

They also don’t find it easy keeping up with all their passwords, so all of those tend to be grouped together. Twenty-two percent of Americans have a file on their computer or mobile device that holds all of their passwords.

According to the survey, 70% of Americans believe there’s more risk in trusting a company with their Social Security number than carrying their Social Security card in their wallet.

Most U.S. workers—88%—do not use work devices that have trusted company security software.

Overwhelmingly (92%), American workers believe security and data protection are priorities for the companies they work for. That said, 34% say companies in general spend more resources on social media strategy than data protection, and 88% believe companies say their data is more secure than it actually is.

A positive sign for the workplace: 44% of respondents said they would delete an email from an unknown sender while 44% would mark it as spam. Only 12% would read it.

Keep work files in the cloud (90% of U.S. workers don’t do this) and only use personal devices that have updated security software (86% don’t). Also, workers should frequently dispose of work information they no longer need, including shredding documents (84% don’t do this).