Most Companies Don`t Know Where Their Sensitive Data Is

Some 64% of companies are uncertain about the location of their sensitive information, while more than half are worried about temporary worker or contractor mistakes with their data security, according to The State of Data Security Intelligence, a study by Ponemon Institute.

The lack of knowledge regarding data (52%), third party or outsourced management of data (48%), and migration to new mobile platforms or cloud ecosystems (47%) are also among the top five concerns that keep IT managers up at night, the report says.

Hackers, non-compliance with laws or regulations, employees` mistakes, broken business processes and personal identity theft are also among the main concerns.

Sensitive and confidential information is considered more at risk in the cloud: some 34% of an organization`s secret information in the cloud is considered at risk, while 24% on premise could be targeted. Respondents also say they can`t assess the risk of 54% of the data stored in the cloud and 30% of the data stored on premises.

Not knowing if their organizations` sensitive or confidential information could be exposed or breached represents a significant security risk, according to 80%. On average, respondents believe 34 percent of the data they collect, store and handle is sensitive or confidential.

The State of Data Security Intelligence surveyed 1,663 Global IT and IT security practitioners in 18 countries and 16 industry sectors. Only IT practitioners whose job involves protection of sensitive or confidential information participated in this study.