Employees ’ lax security habits put their organisations at risk of losing data and intellectual property , and facing potential legal and reputational consequences , according to research from Microsoft . The study revealed that a third of employees were using personal devices or email to back up work - related data , which could have repercussions under pressure . Meanwhile , almost a quarter of people had shared work - related material with personal contacts . Poor security practices were another area of concern , with 44 % of employees using passwords , 22 % using passwords down , and only 16 % having changed their password in the past year .
Employees’ lax security habits put their organisations at risk of losing data and intellectual property, and facing potential legal and reputational consequences, according to research from Microsoft. The study revealed that a third of employees admitted using personal devices or email to back up work-related data, which could have repercussions under GDPR. Meanwhile, almost a quarter of people had shared work-related material with personal contacts. Poor password practices were another area of concern, with 44% of employees recycling passwords, 22% writing passwords down, and only 16% having changed their password in the past year.