Consumers are consistently concerned with the protection of their personal information, especially when dealing with a company over the phone. Contact center and call center agents have access to a significant amount of customer information. In most cases, this is what makes them effective customer service representatives. Unfortunately, it can also open the customer up to risk if the agent decides to alter their loyalty away from the company.

 

According to a recent survey by IT security experts Cyber-Ark, 60 percent of workers faced with redundancy or the loss of their job admit that they will take valuable data with them when they leave, especially if they can get away with it.

 

As much as 40 percent of employed workers are currently downloading sensitive company secrets unbeknownst to their bosses. This action is most often done in anticipation of the possibility that they could lose their job.

In its research, Cyber-Ark found that 40 percent of workers who admit to already downloading competitive corporate data will use it as a negotiating tool in an effort to secure their next post as they know the information will be very useful to future employers.

The employees are extracting such information as customer and contact databases, plans and proposals, product information and access/ password codes as all are popular choices with competitors. HR records tend to be a little safer as they were the least most favored data that employees were interested in taking.

For those employees who are seeking to gather information that can be used against the company later, the weapon of choice is a memory stick. These devices are the smallest, cheapest and least traceable method of downloading huge amounts of data.

Other methods include photocopying, e-mailing, CDs, online encrypted storage websites, smartphones, DVDs, cameras, SKYPE, and iPods. Surprisingly, some workers felt it important enough to get this information and if they were desperate enough, seven percent would try and memorize the important data.  

Adam Bosnian, vice president of products, strategy and sales of Cyber-Ark, said in a company statement, "The damage that insiders can do should not be underestimated. It can take just a few minutes for an entire database that has taken years to build to be copied to a CD or USB stick.”

“With a faltering economy resulting in increased jobs cuts, deferred promotions and additional stress, companies need to be especially vigilant about protecting their most sensitive data against nervous or disgruntled employees. 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," added Bosnian.

For those running contact centers, it is possible to provide the necessary information to contact center agents without allowing them access to the possibility of copying or emailing the information. While memorizing the information seems daunting, it can also be thwarted when an employee must work quickly and has little time to focus on each individual customer’s information.