An IT manager must deal with a myriad of problems, and one of the most notable is protecting privacy. A new survey by Cyber-Ark Software, a Newton, Mass.-based security-software company, found plenty of problems for IT managers when it comes to protecting their data.

The survey found that 35 percent of IT administrators surveyed admitted to accessing corporate information, reading human-resources records, customer databases and M&A plans, says WSJ.com. The number increased from last year's survey, when the rate was 33 percent.

And the news gets worse. The numbers suggest that CIOs and IT executives at every level should enforce ironclad rules about this kind of behavior. But do they? Many top IT administrators may be wary of interfering with the IT professional, as he is the the office trouble shooter and a huge asset when things go wrong. And others may feel that it is too much trouble to be proactive.

The survey of IT professionals in the United States and United Kingdom also had some more disturbing news. Forty-seven percent of the staffers surveyed said if they were fired, they would take proprietary information like company financial reports and M&A plans with them, a sixfold increase from last year's survey, says WSJ.com. What's more, 46 percent of surveyed IT professionals said they would take CEO passwords and R&D plans with them.

With these kinds of numbers, it's time to get tough and put together rules and regulations. When you fire an employee, be sure to get your security personnel to walk them out of the office without letting them return to their desks, where they could snag even more data. Also, turn criminal acts over to authorities for prosecution to make your employees really get the message.

For more on employee data theft:
- check out this WSJ.com article

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