Cash-strapped employees are turning into “the enemy within” by pilfering customer data and flogging it on to criminal gangs, according to new research which exposes a sharp increase in insider fraud.
The UK’s fraud prevention service CIFAS says that the number of cases of insider fraud soared 52% in the first half of 2012, sparked by “precarious economic and employment conditions”.
CIFAS’ staff fraud database identified 289 cases of fraud committed by organisational insiders between January and June this year, up from 190 in the same period in 2011.
Instances of “dishonest actions by staff to gain a benefit” through theft or deception increased 24%, while theft of customer data by employees went up by 53%.
Arjun Medhi, CIFAS staff fraud adviser, said, “As people feel the pinch, organisations must be aware that staff are working harder than ever, often for smaller rewards; going without recognition or adequate recompense.
“This can create resentment and some people will eventually resort to fraud out of a sense of entitlement or misguidedly perceiving no other way to support themselves.”
The findings are backed by a separate report, conducted by information management company Iron Mountain.
It shows that a third of 2,031 European office workers admitted that they had taken or forwarded confidential information out of the office, and one in seven had taken confidential information with them to a new job.
Another 31% said they would deliberately remove and share confidential information if they were fired.
Iron Mountain senior vice-president for UK, Ireland and Norway Peter Eglinton claims companies are focusing too much on monitoring for attacks from outside, while “the people side of the organisation and the hard copy are forgotten about”.
The study revealed that most of those who had taken information when they left a job had relieved their employers of customer databases.
