Passwords a snooper's favorite tool

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-20  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

ONE in three information technology professionals abuses administrative passwords to access confidential data such as colleagues' salary details, personal e-mails or board-meeting minutes, according to a survey.

United States information security company Cyber-Ark surveyed 300 senior IT professionals and found that one-third admitted to secretly snooping, while 47 percent said they had accessed information that was not relevant to their role.

"All you need is access to the right passwords or privileged accounts and you're privy to everything that's going on within your company," said Mark Fullbrook, Cyber-Ark's United Kingdom director.

"For most people, administrative passwords are a seemingly innocuous tool used by the IT department to update or amend systems. To those 'in the know' they are the keys to the kingdom," Fullbrook added.