10 Mistakes End Users Make That Drive Security Managers Crazy

There's so much news about major hacks from nation-states such as Russia, North Korea, Iran, and various criminal gangs in Eastern Europe.

But what's less understood is that an important percentage of breaches stem from insiders. Forrester Research found that nearly 40% of all data breaches are caused by insiders. And of those insider breaches, 26% are caused by abuse or malicious intent by insiders, and 56% are caused by inadvertent misuse or sheer accidents by employees.

"Data is too often mishandled by employees," says Merritt Maxim, a principal analyst at Forrester Research who serves security and risk professionals. "A good tip for companies is to take more time classifying their data. If people understand what the organization considers sensitive, there's less of a chance that it will be mishandled."

Based on interviews with Forrester's Maxim and IDC's Frank Dickson and Robert Westervelt, we pinpointed 10 common ways employees mishandle - and inadvertently breach - an organization’s security.