More than a decade ago, I found myself working in an environment that was not a good fit, and the only thing my boss and I had in common was our mutual frustration with each other. 

It’s not the proudest moment of my life, but on my last day of work, I did something a little vindictive and more than a little out-of-character for me. I stole the plant from my office.

I’m sure there are quite a few companies out there right now who would hope that’s about the only thing laid off or terminated employees take on their way out the door this year.

According to a Cyber-Ark survey of 226 office workers on Wall Street, 58 percent of workers faced with being laid off or terminated admit they would take valuable data with them if they could get away with it. Even more alarming: The survey also noted that 57 percent of workers who admit to already downloading competitive corporate data will use it as a negotiating tool to secure their next post as they know the information will be very useful to future employers.

Workplace psychology aside, there are certainly steps your company can take to minimize such an occurrence, says George Davida, director of the Center for Cryptography, Computer and Network Security, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

“It is true that given the large number of databases and variety of information that is needed for employees to perform their job, protecting all data can be daunting indeed,” he says. “In this regard, it is important that the protection policies include as complete as possible logs of access to the databases or files, recognizing that sometimes a perpetrator can use another co-worker’s workstation to access data to avoid coming under suspicion.”

He adds that regular audits of access to sensitive databases and files may mitigate workers using other workers’ workstations for this purpose. “This is related to intrusion detection, but is somewhat harder since access is from the inside by someone who has authorized access,” he says.
And that’s the rub.

When it happens, it’s not only an insider job, but it can be done far in advance when the layoff or termination whispers first start. According to the Cyber-Ark survey, the top items that ex-employees would take with them include customer and contact data bases, with plans and proposals, product information and access/password codes.

While Davida admits he has not heard of an increase in data thefts during the past few months, he notes that companies are often loath to reveal such abuses due to potential litigation.

“Certainly the economic downturn and the resulting lay-offs may lead to more disgruntled employees taking what they can, especially since it is so simple to walk out with a large amount of data on a very tiny memory stick,” says Davida. “There are reports that some entities, especially government entities, removing or closing the USB and other removable connections to workstations to combat precisely this problem.”

Cyber-Ark Vice President of Products, Strategy and Sales Adam Bosnian offers a practical suggestion.

“Our advice is: Only allow access to sensitive information to those that really need it, lock it away in a digital vault and encrypt the really sensitive data,” he says.

One non-technical approach employers can also take is addressing workplace whispers, particularly if there is a lot of unfounded rumor and conjecture going around. Employees who feel confident in their continued employment, and in their company as a whole, are less likely to start squirreling away data that can be of future benefit.

Finally, all companies should have an exit procedure in place to minimize opportunity during the separation process, particularly concerning any type of electronic storage device, from company issued smartphones to personal iPods, which can be used for data storage.

However, as I can personally vouch, there is little that can be done to protect the security of the plants hanging around your office.

By Laurie Arendt

Laurie Arendt is editor of CRW. She can be reached at crweditor@crwmag.com