Governments, corporates, and many users have been a victim to leaks and hacks in the last decade, but when it comes to Indian business executives, the confidence regarding safety of sensitive information remains intact.

Data leaks have plagued many companies, Indian and international, in the past couple of years. The biggest one ever recorded was in December 2016, when 3 billion Yahoo accounts’ data was breached. The massive data leaks make it obvious that ensuring safety of digital files is tricky but Indians seem a lot more confident than global peers about not compromising their employer’s data safety when travelling, according to a research by CWT, a global travel management company.

Almost 61 per cent of Indian business travellers feel assured about the sensitive data than 35 per cent of global peers. Travellers from the America are significantly more confident (46 per cent) than those in Asia Pacific (28 per cent), or Europe (27 per cent).

“These results show there is still a lot to do around educating travellers on how to look after their company’s data. For instance, connectivity in public spaces can put company data at risk,” said Andrew Jordan, CWT’s executive vice president and chief technology officer. “Awareness and training are key to protecting against any possible security breaches.”

The top worry for Indians is having their laptops or other mobile devices stolen or lost (29 per cent), followed by using public Wi-Fi (28 per cent) and accessing company emails (12 per cent). These concerns are justified since 46 per cent of business travellers globally – and 49 per cent of travelling executives from India – said they have been concerned about a security breach while online or trying to get online. And this was not the only issue: 44 per cent of Indians admitted to downloading an unknown file from an unrecognized sender vs. 37 per cent of travellers globally – and 49 per cent said they have opened a phishing email (vs. 37 per cent of travellers globally). Fortunately, most business travellers said they took prompt action when they became aware of a security or data breach. Around a third (35 per cent) of Indian respondents said they notified their company’s IT department or management upon identifying the breach vs. 34 per cent of travellers globally. A further 34 per cent of Indian business travellers said they immediately shut down their device as compared to 37 per cent of travellers globally. More than two-thirds, 70 per cent, of business travellers from India said they know how to report a phishing email appropriately – higher than the global average of 62 per cent.

“These percentages can surely improve dramatically with better training on data safety,” said Jordan.

While awareness is the key in countering data leaks interestingly, only 23 per cent of Indians and 17 per cent of business travellers globally said that they received frequent and formal communication and guidance about data and internet security from their company.

Writer and Courtesy: The Pioneer

Governments, corporates, and many users have been a victim to leaks and hacks in the last decade, but when it comes to Indian business executives, the confidence regarding safety of sensitive information remains intact.

Data leaks have plagued many companies, Indian and international, in the past couple of years. The biggest one ever recorded was in December 2016, when 3 billion Yahoo accounts’ data was breached. The massive data leaks make it obvious that ensuring safety of digital files is tricky but Indians seem a lot more confident than global peers about not compromising their employer’s data safety when travelling, according to a research by CWT, a global travel management company.

Almost 61 per cent of Indian business travellers feel assured about the sensitive data than 35 per cent of global peers. Travellers from the America are significantly more confident (46 per cent) than those in Asia Pacific (28 per cent), or Europe (27 per cent).

“These results show there is still a lot to do around educating travellers on how to look after their company’s data. For instance, connectivity in public spaces can put company data at risk,” said Andrew Jordan, CWT’s executive vice president and chief technology officer. “Awareness and training are key to protecting against any possible security breaches.”

The top worry for Indians is having their laptops or other mobile devices stolen or lost (29 per cent), followed by using public Wi-Fi (28 per cent) and accessing company emails (12 per cent). These concerns are justified since 46 per cent of business travellers globally – and 49 per cent of travelling executives from India – said they have been concerned about a security breach while online or trying to get online. And this was not the only issue: 44 per cent of Indians admitted to downloading an unknown file from an unrecognized sender vs. 37 per cent of travellers globally – and 49 per cent said they have opened a phishing email (vs. 37 per cent of travellers globally). Fortunately, most business travellers said they took prompt action when they became aware of a security or data breach. Around a third (35 per cent) of Indian respondents said they notified their company’s IT department or management upon identifying the breach vs. 34 per cent of travellers globally. A further 34 per cent of Indian business travellers said they immediately shut down their device as compared to 37 per cent of travellers globally. More than two-thirds, 70 per cent, of business travellers from India said they know how to report a phishing email appropriately – higher than the global average of 62 per cent.

“These percentages can surely improve dramatically with better training on data safety,” said Jordan.

While awareness is the key in countering data leaks interestingly, only 23 per cent of Indians and 17 per cent of business travellers globally said that they received frequent and formal communication and guidance about data and internet security from their company.

Writer and Courtesy: The Pioneer