As high-profile ex-employee Dominic Cummings rages a very public war with his former boss, a new study has revealed that employers in the UK are exposing themselves to unnecessary security risks from ex-staff members.
According to the survey by Digital ID, the UK’s leading access control and security provider, just over a third of employers surveyed (mainly SMEs) (34%) admitted to never changing sensitive log-in and password details. Including for emails, cloud systems, building entry access codes and social media accounts. A further 23% said they only changed them once a year, even if there was a high turnover of staff.
A worrying statistic given that one in five of the past employees surveyed admitted to having tried to access old accounts to see if they could. Only 45% of the employers interviewed said they had procedures in place to ensure all equipment, including staff ID badges, were returned when a person left the company. And a quarter of the employees surveyed admitted to taking sensitive information like contact details, dates, price lists and plans for new products with them when they left a job.
“Our research indicates that lots of companies are leaving themselves wide open to all kinds of security breaches,” said Adam Bennett of Digital ID, the company behind the research.
“The UK has watched on aghast at Boris Johnson’s former aide Dominic Cummings’ attempts to take down his ex-boss. And celebrated in equal measure when a former HSBC cleaner posted a resignation letter shaming her boss for unfair treatment on social media, only for it to go viral.
“What these situations illustrate is that for many businesses, especially SMEs with inadequate security systems and HR procedures in place, ex-employees can pose a very real threat. Especially if they leave on bad terms.
“Nobody likes to think that a relationship will turn sour when they start out, but a quick internet search will reveal plenty of cases of rogue employees causing all kinds of havoc. And in the age of social media, crises can very quickly escalate. In many instances, it’s completely avoidable with the introduction of some simple security procedures.”
How to protect a business from an ex-employee
According to Digital ID, cyber security, access control, staff ID and visitor ID cards are the main security processes SMEs should review.
Bennett shares some steps that employees can do to protect themselves:
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