SailPoint survey shows employees’ habits expose growing risk amid the digital transformation

Annual market pulse survey finds nearly 50% of employees are using AI chatbots and personal assistants for work efficiency.

The results of the 10th Annual Market Pulse Survey from SailPoint Technologies Holdings, Inc., expose an alarming trend. Despite an increased focus on cybersecurity awareness in the workplace, employees’ cybersecurity habits are getting worse, compounded by the speed and complexity of the digital transformation. Of the 1,600 global employees surveyed, 75% of respondents admitted to reusing passwords across accounts, including work and personal, compared to 56% who admitted to doing so in 2014, when SailPoint first posed the question.

Organisations are at varying stages of the digital transformation, and that evolution has presented an increasingly complex IT environment to manage securely. Yet this year’s Market Pulse Survey findings points to a workforce who are less committed to online security. This has not only introduced further risk, but also a sense of frustration between the IT team, trying to secure and enable the business, and users who want to work more efficiently. Over half of survey respondents stated their IT department can be a source of inconvenience in their organisation. This leads to employees skirting IT policies, such as the 31% who admitted that they have deployed software without IT’s help.

Efforts to get around IT may not necessarily be done with malicious intent, but the reality is they directly increase IT risk for the organisation. For example, 13% of employees admitted they would not immediately notify their IT department if they thought they had been hacked. Further compounding this issue is a workforce that tends to not understand the role of all employees in keeping an organisation secure. The survey shows that 49% of respondents would actually blame the IT department for a cyberattack as a result of an employee being hacked.

However, it’s not just today’s employees exposing organisations to risk. As the digital transformation blurs the traditional security perimeter with cloud apps, it is also redefining the definition of a “user”. Enterprises are increasingly adopting software bots powered by robotic process automation (RPA), and granting them access to mission-critical applications and data. Nearly half (48%) of respondents are currently using or planning to use chatbots and artificial intelligence personal assistants, with 13% already using these in their organisation to increase their work efficiency.

Juliette Rizkallah, CMO at SailPoint, said: “to secure and enable today’s modern workforce, the users have become the new ‘security perimeter’ and their digital identities are the common link across an organisation’s IT ecosystem at every stage of its digital transformation”. Rizkallah continued by describing how, “taking an identity-centric approach to security, IT can gain full visibility and control into which applications and data users, including both human and non-human bots, are accessing to do their jobs. This approach allows enterprises of all sizes to confidently address the tension between enablement and security exposed in our Market Pulse Survey.”

To learn more about how an identity-centric approach to security can help global enterprises address the issues highlighted in this year’s Market Pulse Survey, please join the webinar “Balancing Efficiency and Security in Today’s Enterprises,” on Thursday, November 29, 2018 at 10:00 am CT. You can register for this seminar here.

www.sailpoint.com/market-pulse-survey/

Georgina Turner image

Georgina Turner

Sales Manager

Read the Latest Issue

Follow us on X

Follow us on X

Click Here

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow us on LinkedIn

Click Here

Advertise here

Reach decision makers and amplify your marketing

Advertise here

Click Here

Related News

Graphic displaying a lockdown solution

Netgenium debuts next gen display and touchscreen technologies

Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) solutions specialist Netgenium will be showcasing its new range of IP…

ICT® Launches New TSL Access Reader Series

Integrated Control Technology (ICT®), a leading manufacturer of intelligent access control and…
Image Provided by Paxton

Paxton Partners with Skills for Security

The security technology manufacturer Paxton is proud to announce a partnership with Skills for Security…
Image Provided by ICT

ICT and Ingram Micro sign distribution agreement MEA

Integrated Control Technology (ICT), award-winning global manufacturer of intelligent electronic access control and security solutions..
Image Provided by Toshiba

Toshiba launches new HDD Innovation Lab

Toshiba Electronics Europe GmbH (Toshiba) has inaugurated a new HDD Innovation Laboratory (HDD Innovation Lab) at its site in Düsseldorf..
Image Provided by Verkada

Verkada Doubles Down on the Channel with Strategic New Hire

Verkada, a leader in cloud-based physical security, today announced the appointment of Micah Deriso as Head of Global Channel…
Image Provided by IPSA

IPSA Appoint Frontline Hero as Ambassador

Abdullah, the courageous security officer praised for foiling a horrific knife attack at Leicester Square, has been appointed as…
Image Provided by Codelocks

New Surface Latch from Codelocks

Codelocks is expanding its Gate Solutions by Codelocks range with the introduction of the new Codelocks’ Surface Latch…
Image provided by Genetec

Nicholas Smith to Lead Genetec UK and Ireland Operations

Genetec, provider of enterprise physical security software, announced the appointment of Nicholas Smith as its new Regional Sales Director…

News Desk

View all the latest, product, project and people news

News Desk

Click Here

Technology News

Keep up-to-date with the latest product innovation

Technology News

Click Here

Industry Sectors

Discover technology in action in all applications

Industry Sectors

Click Here

Enter The Awards

Showcase personal or organisation excellence

Advertise With Us

Reach decision makers and amplify your marketing

Advertise With Us

Click Here
Scroll to Top