BANGALORE, INDIA: Compuware Corporation announced the results of a new study, commissioned by Compuware and conducted by the Ponemon Institute, that showed insiders were the number one cause of all data breaches with hackers ranking a distant fifth.

The survey shows insiders caused 75 percent of all breaches in the US while external hackers committed only one percent of breaches. The 2008 study on ncertainty of data breach detection also reveals 79 percent of US respondents had experienced at least one data breach.

Perry Carpenter, Gartner, said: "Enterprises must recognise that simply trusting employees will inevitably prove detrimental to their security, their risk postures and their business interest. A mixture of tried-and-true security practices, security awareness, and low- and high-tech toolsets will provide the most effective and comprehensive defense against the insider threat."

The study also shows that 41 percent of all data breaches occurred in a mainframe environment, putting abundant confidential customer data at risk considering more than 80 percent of the world's corporate and governmental data resides on mainframes.

Rose Rowe, Compuware Vice President of Mainframe Solutions, said: "Compuware recognises the business impact of an insider breach. Our data privacy solutions can protect the enterprise from data breaches in test and production."

Larry Ponemon, Chairman and Founder, Ponemon Institute, said: "Data security has become a critical issue to the financial integrity of businesses and individuals alike. This study shows that both personal and corporate information is flooding out of the organisations entrusted with its confidentiality."