Millennials: Greatest risk to corporate data security

A recent online survey was highlighted in HealthMgtTech.com and it shines a bright spotlight on something I’ve spoken about as it relates to social media.  The survey found that Millennials, workers age 18 – 34, have the highest mobile data security risks due to generational behaviors.

A recent online survey was highlighted in HealthMgtTech.com and it shines a bright spotlight on something I’ve spoken about as it relates to social media.  The survey found that Millennials, workers age 18 – 34, have the highest mobile data security risks due to generational behaviors. These are the same young people who are digital natives…  living their lives online.  

I’ve suggested additional conversations with these employees to help them understand that they should not live their healthcare worklife online and present them with the risks to their career if they choose to violate hospital policy, including privacy and confidentiality.  So the articles adds one more thing to my list — privacy, confidentiality and data security.

Data  from the survey includes: 

• 64% of millennials use their employer-owned device for personal use, compared with 37% of baby boomers
• 35% of millennials modify their default settings, compared to 8% of boomers
• 77% of millennials access “Not Safe For Work” content, compared with only 5% of boomers.
• Only 25% of millennials believe they compromise IT security, compared with 5% of boomers.

This means that healthcare leaders must reach out and affect the imaginations of these young workers.  However, there is also room to affect the imaginations of all workers, irrespective of age when it comes to data security.  One additional survey question reveals that 50% of all respondents say data security isn’t their responsibility and 36% lay it at the doorstep of the  IT department.  

My belief is that all users of workplace technology have a responsibility for data security and adhering to safeguards.   That is 100% of staff who touch or go near any computing equipment, including today’s biomedical devices.  This means that healthcare leaders have some work to do before they can ever expect to gain control of the ongoing data breaches that have been predicted for years.   Who is up for the challenge?