Holiday Help Can Be Hazardous

As the holidays approach, lots of organizations are planning for downtime. And often those plans include hiring outside help.

That help could exact a high price for some IT professionals.

Hiring contractors and other temporary workers heightens security risk. At least two of the mostmemorable data protection disasters of recent memory were attributable to errors made by hired hands.

It was a 22-year-old intern for the state of Ohio who lost sensitive data on over 1 million people while helping out on a database project.

An outside auditor compromised data on thousands of McAfee employees when a disk was left with a bunch of music CDs in the back pocket of an airplane seat.In a study released by Websense, the threat-protection vendor that bought PortAuthority for $90 million earlier this year, companies are courting trouble through their leniency regarding temporary workers.

Of 100 temps interviewed, for instance, 87.7 percent told Websense they were able to access network-drive documents or folders used by permanent staff; 62.4 percent had used someone else's login details to access a network computer; 91.2 percent were able to print anything they liked; 42.1 percent were able to connect a USB device, PDA, or iPod to the company network; and 37 percent were given passwords to key company systems like payroll. A full 52 percent were allowed to use someone else's email account or a general email address on the company network while they worked there.

Sure, Websense has an axe to grind, but the risks are worth considering. After all, who hasn't been tempted to turn to contractors for assistance when the relatives are landing, the shopping remains undone, and the kids are counting on Santa? In the rush, it's easy to forget these folks don't work for your company.

Hopefully, with a bit of foresight, firewalling, encryption, password protection, and plain old common sense, users can get the outside help they need without forfeiting their jobs in the process.

Do you have a holiday plan in place? Tell us about it on the message board below, or send us a message.Have a comment on this story? Please click "Discuss" below. If you'd like to contact Byte and Switch's editors directly, send us a message.