14 DAY TRIAL // The State of the Small Business Employee Report, a survey conducted by GfK Group on behalf of GFI Software, shows that most small business employees are concerned about the impact that working online has on their safety.
59% of the 1,119 respondents said they would remove all their personal information from the Web if they could. Their main concern is that the information can be used for identity theft.
A total of 87% feel that they’re at risk of becoming victims of identity theft or other crimes while using work computers.
Some small businesses have IT support, yet only just over half of them have policies in place regarding the use of company-owned devices. Furthermore, 24% of them admit violating these policies.
“The strength of SMB employee happiness levels is great news for the economy, which needs a thriving and productive small business sector to provide the backbone for economic and employment growth,” commented Sergio Galindo, head of global product management at GFI Software.
“However, our research has confirmed that smaller organisations are not as successful as their large competitors at proactively providing the reassurances and tools necessary to ensure employees feel safeguarded from all the electronic threats that a modern, Internet-centric workplace poses.”
While three quarters of the respondents believe mobile computing has helped them and their organizations, the other 25% say their life has become more stressful because mobile devices remove the boundaries between their personal life and work.
Most small business employees have admitted using work devices for personal activities. Worryingly, 7% say they’ve lost a device containing company data. Only 36% are blocked from visiting certain websites from employer-owned computers.