More than half of UK workers believed their company would have no way of knowing whether they took or accidentally sent sensitive information outside the company, according to research by content security firm Websense.

It found that one in 12 employees would happily share sensitive information with friends at rival companies.

More than 40% openly admitted to allowing friends and family to use their company laptop – which allowed one-click access to their company’s sensitive information.

It found that 31% tried to guess the administrator’s password for their PC, with 21% having confessed to trying to access protected files, including finance and HR data.

Frank Coggrave, regional director for Western Europe at Websense, says: “It is a real eye opener to realise that so many UK employees are willing to put aside confidentiality agreements for friends.

“Even if these actions are completely innocent, the implications are huge for companies leaving their data security to chance. There are so many potential holes in security that can expose an organisation. Not taking proactive steps to secure confidential data can lead to extremely costly information leaks.”