While intentions are not always to harm the company, employees leaving a business are likely to bring some corporate data with them, a study conducted by Iron Mountain found, according to InfoSecurity Magazine. Fifty-one percent of workers in Europe are likely to being along company information as they leave jobs, with 44 percent doing so in the U.K.
These insider threats are not always malicious, as employees believe the data is theirs because they helped create it, according to the study. Part of this reason is that workers think the information will help with future jobs.
Among those that were fired, the malice remains. Thirty-one percent of employees who were sacked or laid off claim that they would remove and share confidential information from the company on purpose.
"It is extremely worrying to see that employees are leaving jobs with highly sensitive information," senior vice president of Iron Mountain, Patrick Keddy, told InfoSecurity Magazine.
According to a 2010 study from SailPoint, even employees that wouldn't think of pilfering a few notepads on the way out the door pose a threat to company data. While just 16 percent said they would take office supplies, 27 percent claimed they would take customer contact information.
