Jun 10, 2009 9:57 pm US/Eastern
IT Pros Admit To Snooping On Fellow Employees
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
Before you put anything sensitive on your work computer, keep in mind you have a one in three chance someone will be snooping.
A new survey says more than a third of corporate I-T professionals admit to using their administrative password to access information without authorization.
This includes salaries, confidential financial reports, and even the CEO's password.
"It's basically because they can," said Udi Mokady, CEO of Cyber-Ark.
The Newton company surveyed more than 400 I-T professionals in the United States and United Kingdom and found a third admitted to cyber snooping.
"People have looked at financial reports, they looked at CEO data, they've read emails, and they've looked at (human resources) information."
Mokady says the numbers suggest the bad economy is responsible for a spike in unauthorized access to certain information.
Last year 11 percent of survey respondents admitted to accessing company financial records and the CEO's password.
Thirteen percent said they looked at confidential research and development files. This year, those numbers have quadrupled.
Mokady believes cyber snoops are preparing in case they get laid off. "It's more information for the standby," he said.
Workers aren't too happy with the thought of someone accessing their personal information.
"You're scaring me," said Ken Rosen, a library technician at Boston University. "That doesn't make me feel good."
Mabel Ng sees it differently. "If they are super users and they have the password to get in, then they are entitled to look up the information."
Mokady says there is monitoring software a company can install to track I-T staff, but he says many I-T professionals know how to get around it.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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