Veritas Technologies
revealed new research that highlights the dangers of mis-using instant
messaging (IM) and business collaboration tools. 71% of office workers
globally - including 68% in the US - admitted to sharing sensitive and
business-critical company data using these tools, the survey found.
The Veritas
Hidden Threat of Business Collaboration Report, which polled 12,500 office
workers across ten countries, shows employees are exposing
companies to risk by taking data out of the control of businesses that employ
them. In the US, 58% of employees are saving their own copies of business
information shared over IM, while 51% delete that information entirely. Either
approach could leave companies open to significant fines if regulators ask to
see a paper trail.
Sensitive
data being shared by employees on these channels in the US includes: client
information (13%), details on HR issues (10%), contracts (10%), business plans
(10%), and even COVID-19 test results (12%). Less than one-third of employees
suggested they hadn't shared anything that could be compromising. The research also
reveals that, while employees are using collaboration tools to close deals,
process orders and agree to pay raises, many believe there will be no formal
record of the discussion or agreement. In fact, only 56% in the US believe
employers are saving this information.
Ajay Bhatia, GM, Digital Compliance at Veritas
Technologies, said: "For millions of us, our entire way of work
has been reset since the start of 2020.
Companies are rushing to bolster their data protection and discovery
strategies to include the platforms where their business is actually being
done."
Increased use is compounding issues
The research shows this challenge is compounded by the
amount of time employees spend using messaging and collaboration apps: time
spent on tools such as Zoom and Teams has increased by 13% in the US since the
start of the pandemic. This means employees are spending, on average, two and a
half hours every day on these applications, with 27% of US employees spending
more than half the working week on these tools.
A significant amount of business is now routinely
conducted on these channels and employees are taking agreements as binding. For
example, as a result of receiving information over messaging and collaboration
tools, almost 24% of US employees have accepted and processed an order, 25%
have accepted a reference for a job candidate, and 20% have accepted a signed
version of a contract.
Sensitive data is being shared on these tools even
though 39% of US employees have been reprimanded by bosses. These admonishments
may have been in vain, however, as 75% of all US workers say they would
continue to share this type of information in the future.
Bhatia said: "It is now clear
that constraining employees to ‘approved' methods of
communication and collaboration tools isn't effective. Instead, our
message is simple: don't fight it - fix it."
IM trusted nearly as much as e-mail
When asked
which methods of communication provide the most reliable proof an agreement is
binding, responses didn't appear to be based on the businesses' ability to
capture the discussion as evidence:
- In the US, e-mail is
viewed as reliable affirmation of an agreement by 96%, followed by
electronic signature at 95%.
- IM was trusted by 93%,
text by 89%, and even social media was viewed as reliable proof by 68%.
Bhatia
said: "Business data is now everywhere. Deals are being done,
orders are being processed, and sensitive personnel information is being
shared, all through video-conferencing and messaging
platforms. It is now critical for companies to include this rapidly
growing volume of data in their protection and
compliance envelope. If they don't, the implications could be huge."
The research also uncovered some interesting patterns
that emerge from country-to-country comparisons:
- 34% of workers globally
would accept an order over an instant messaging app and start processing
it. But regional differences exist - 49% in China would action the sale,
but only 29% in the US would do the same.
- While 58% of employees
in the US are saving their own copies of information shared over instant
messaging apps, 75% of office workers in China and
44% of UK workers are
doing so.
- Willingness to use
business applications for personal purposes varied considerably. 47% of US
employees have used corporate applications for personal conversations
compared to 57% of employees in China and South Korea and just 32% in UK.
- Some employers are
clearer in enforcing their policies than others. An
average of 30% of respondents worldwide have been
reprimanded by their employer for IM use, but that number increases to 39% in the
US and goes
down to 21% in Brazil.
Veritas recommends the following steps for businesses to regain
control of data being shared over collaboration and messaging tools:
- Standardize on a set of collaboration and messaging tools meeting
the needs of the business - this will limit the sprawl.
- Create a policy for information sharing - this will help control
sharing of sensitive information.
- Train all employees on the policies and tools being deployed - this
will help to reduce accidental policy breaches.
- Incorporate data sets from collaboration and messaging tools into
the businesses' data management strategy using eDiscovery and SaaS data
backup solutions - this will empower users to maximize the tools without
putting the business at risk.