IT contractors may find themselves increasingly called upon to protect employers against cyber attacks in future, after a study revealed that most insider threats come from ordinary, mainstream employees.

A survey by Imperva found that 72 per cent of respondents admitted to taking corporate data from customer records, HR departments and marketing material, while over half said they would steal company secrets if they were dismissed.

Martyn Ruks, technical director at MWR Infosecurity, said many organisations do not realise the impact of an electronic attack on their assets, which can range from disruption to revenue streams to inactive websites.

He commented: "It is very important that people are aware as to what kinds of resources are needed to actually protect against this.

"It is not simply an issue where we can throw a piece of technology or solution at it, to solve it."

Mr Ruks went on to say that everybody, from users to businesses and government, need to make sure resources are in place to protect against cyber attacks.