Employers have been urged to communicate their IT security policies more effectively after a survey revealed that ignorance and lack of understanding were major factors behind security breaches suffered by organisations.
In a poll of 2,000 office workers by software security company Clearswift, one in four felt that their company "could be better" at communicating guidelines, with 63% blaming ignorance or a lack of understanding for security breaches suffered by their organisation.
One-third of those surveyed said that they had not received any training on IT security since joining their firm. Clearswift warned this was "particularly concerning" considering that more than two-thirds (62%) of respondents joined more than five years ago – "a virtual lifetime" in technological terms.
Almost one in seven people fear that they may be breaching corporate policy, albeit inadvertently, as a result, the survey shows.
Richard Turner, chief executive at Clearswift, said: "It's time for companies to get to grips with making a policy a living, breathing part of their business that is relevant to everyday corporate life – not just a tick in the box when it comes to an induction period.
"All too often, a policy is simply a document that is referred to only when something goes wrong – almost proof that someone 'should have known better'," he added.