Report: Younger workers ignore corporate IT security policies

Younger workers are so accustomed to on-demand information access that they tend to be less concerned with security and privacy, a new study from Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) reports.

The study said college students and recent college graduates are also more likely to ignore IT policies than older workers, with some 70 percent frequently ignoring IT policies and 67 percent bridling at restrictions placed on use of social media and devices.

The study, Connected World Technology, focused on 1,400 college students between 18 and 23 years old, and 1,400 professionals under age 30.

 Among the other findings:

• 61 percent say corporate IT isn't their responsibility, saying device manufacturers and their employers should handle those issues;
• 18 percent said they don't have time to think about policies when working;
• 16 percent said the policies are inconvenient;
• 22 percent said they need access to unauthorized programs and applications to get their jobs done; and,
• 19 percent said the policies aren't being enforced.

Of concern, said Cisco, was that more than half of the professionals surveyed said they had allowed someone else to use their computers unsupervised.

"Someone could be doing something nefarious on that machine, unsupervised," Olechowski said.

The researchers said that the respondents lack of concern about privacy and security could be a major reason nearly a quarter said they had been a victim of identity theft before the age of 30.

For more:
- see this eWeek article

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