A new report from Beyond Identity explores how the Great Resignation has threatened cybersecurity – and how today’s offboarding processes have actually left former employees with continued access to critical digital assets.
Beyond Identity commissioned a survey of more than 900 employees across the U.S., UK and Ireland. The report revealed these staggering statistics:
83% of employees continued accessing accounts from their previous employer after leaving the company.
56% of employees said they had used their continued digital access to harm their former employer.
35% of employees still had access to old email accounts and work-related materials on a personal device.
24% of employees admitted to intentionally keeping company financial information, passwords, and process-related documents.
Additionally, in surveying 200+ U.S. employers about their offboarding experiences, the study found 74% were negatively impacted by a former employee breaching their digital security.
More than a third of former employees still had access to their company email account and work-related materials on a personal device. Furthermore, respondents often reported deliberately taking contact information for co-workers (31%), specific co-worker conversations they had saved (30%), and even potentially valuable company ideas (27%) with them.
How Organizations Can Protect Themselves
Per Beyond Identity, passwordless multi-factor authentication is seen as a strong defense against unauthorized access. Ensuring your organization has a solution in place that can bind the identity of a user to their device, so a former employee would no longer be able to gain access to company resources is critical.
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