1 in 3 IT professionals fear resentful employees will spread sensitive info

1 in 3 firms still use manual administrative account management method.

One in three IT professionals in Singapore bared that their biggest identity and access management (IAM) fear will be when dismayed employees share sensitive information from the firm, a study by software firm One Identity found.

Other than this, they also fear having their CIO interviewed on TV following an IAM-cause data breach (26%) and usernames and passwords being posted to the dark web (19%). More than a majority (75%) also confessed that it would be easy for them to steal sensitive information if they were to leave their organization, with 4% admitting they would do if they were mad or upset enough.

In terms of privileged accounts practices, the study found that 30% of businesses still use manual administrative account management method whilst 6% of them do not manage administrative accounts at all. Meanwhile, 59% grant privileged account access to third-party partners, contractors or vendors.

“The fact of the matter is that organisations that fail to address these basic IAM and PAM best practices may not only expose themselves to significant security risks, but also drive business productivity down,” said Serkan Cetin, regional manager, technology & strategy at One Identity APJ.

The study found that only 6% of IT security stakeholders are completely confident in their PAM programmes.

“These results are especially alarming in light of the series of breaches that have rocked Singapore and the region this year, such as the SingHealth breach that affected more than 1.5 million Singaporeans, which included Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as well,” Cetin added.