Good data security ‘dependent on people’

Published on 15 May 2012.

Businesses that wish to keep their data safe should train their staff accordingly.

Companies attempting to improve their data security processes should focus on training people within their organisation, it has been claimed.

The latest Business IT report from Computer World UK argued that firms could learn from the political doctrine of nudge theory, which attempts to create small behavioural changes in the population in a bid to improve its health.

Rather than forcing people to adopt a certain behaviour, governments encourage them to do so by offering them information on the choices available.

In the IT world, this is translated into encouraging workers to carry out small but effective tasks which can help shore up a company’s security processes, such as changing their passwords regularly or not opening emails from unknown addresses.

“Where possible it is worth considering persuading people to make the right choice by better framing the options they are presented with,” argued Intel.

A recent documentary by Channel 4 revealed that personal errors are by far the biggest factor in the loss of personal data.

by Otto Greenberg