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Tough times lift IT security threat from within

Stressed employees are providing a big IT security concern in the financial services industry, according to a new global survey.

Deloitte’s annual global security survey says the “internal workforce” has become a major concern despite a drop in security breaches worldwide over the past year.

The top 50 global insurance companies were represented among the 250 survey respondents. which also drew from the top 100 global financial institutions and banks.

The survey finds the workforce is organisations’ biggest worry (36%) compared with outsiders (13%).

“The growing popularity of social networks and the proliferation of mobile media such as USB keys, MP3 players and PDAs all cause an extra load on internal and external security,’’ the report said.

“These devices present opportunities for unauthorised download and storage of confidential information in an unprotected medium.

“This is one of the factors that has contributed to the sudden rise of data protection and information leakage as a top priority for financial institutions – tied at second place with access and identity management.”