--- title: Eight in 10 IT Pros Believe Their Organization Is Next to Suffer a Breach description: A survey of 500 IT professionals by Exonar reveals that 94% of respondents have experienced a data breach at some point in time, while 79% are worried their current employer could be next. image: https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/hubfs/hands%20on%20laptop.jpeg --- [![](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/hubfs/2021/09/logo-white.svg)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/?hsLang=en-us) [![CONTACT AN EXPERT](https://hubspot-no-cache-eu1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/341979/1d8885e9-1179-49b1-a5ec-9c75f5f670dd.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-eu1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/341979/1d8885e9-1179-49b1-a5ec-9c75f5f670dd) - [For Home](https://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/) - [For Business](https://www.bitdefender.com/business/) - [Resources](https://www.bitdefender.com/business/resource-library.html) - [Webinars](https://www.bitdefender.com/business/webinars.html) # [BUSINESS INSIGHTS](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/?hsLang=en-us) By [**Filip Truta**](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/author/filip-truta) / Sep 10, 2020 # Eight in 10 IT Pros Believe Their Organization Is Next to Suffer a Breach Share this [![Share on email](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/hubfs/2021/07/blog/email-color.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/eight-in-10-it-pros-organization-next-suffer-breach&utm_medium=social&utm_source=email%20&body=Check%20out%20https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/eight-in-10-it-pros-organization-next-suffer-breach&utm_medium=social&utm_source=email) [![Share on twitter](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/hubfs/2021/07/blog/twitter-color.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/eight-in-10-it-pros-organization-next-suffer-breach&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&url=https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/eight-in-10-it-pros-organization-next-suffer-breach&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&source=tweetbutton&text=) [![Share on linkedin](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/hubfs/2021/07/blog/linkedin-color.png)](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/eight-in-10-it-pros-organization-next-suffer-breach&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin) [![Share on facebook](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/hubfs/2021/07/blog/facebook-color.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/eight-in-10-it-pros-organization-next-suffer-breach&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook) - 94% of IT pros have experienced a data breach at some point in time - 79% are worried their current employer could be next - Employee data breaches most commonly occur through external email services such as Gmail and Outlook New research indicates that IT professionals are overwhelmingly pessimistic about their organization’s resilience facing a cyber threat. Employee data breaches are seen as the biggest risk to the business. A [survey](https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2020/09/10/nine-out-of-ten-it-pros-have-experienced-a-data-breach/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HelpNetSecurity+%28Help+Net+Security%29) of 500 IT professionals by Exonar reveals that 94% of respondents have experienced a data breach at some point in time, while 79% are worried their current employer could be next. Insider threats are regarded as the biggest risk, with 40% of respondents citing employee-caused data breaches as the biggest overall threat to information security in the coming year. 21% named external attacks from cybercriminals as the biggest risk, and 20% cited malware attacks. Employee data breaches most commonly occur through external email services such as Gmail and Outlook, according to half of those surveyed. 42% also agree that breaches occur through collaboration tools such as Slack and Dropbox as well, and 41% cited messaging services. Just 6% had never knowingly experienced a data breach, according to the research. The biggest challenge in combating data breaches is gaining visibility across the organization’s data estate, according to 95% of IT pros. Only 39% of organizations are taking active steps to strengthen their cybersecurity stack with the right tools and processes needed to enhance visibility into the threat surface, respondents said. [**Bitdefender GravityZone Ultra**](https://www.bitdefender.com/business/enterprise-products/ultra-security.html) offers IT reps the means to zero in on misconfigurations, vulnerable applications, user behavior risks, individual devices and users, and close these gaps quickly and efficiently. ### Explore More Topics - [Enterprise Security (765)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/enterprise-security) - [Threat Research (206)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/threat-research) - [SMB Security (193)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/smb-security) - [Cloud Security (174)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/cloud-security) - [Ransomware (172)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/ransomware) - [Privacy and Data Protection (139)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/privacy-and-data-protection) - [Cybersecurity Awareness (136)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/cybersecurity-awareness) - [Endpoint Protection & Management (136)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/endpoint-protection-management) - [Endpoint Detection and Response (127)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/endpoint-detection-and-response) - [Managed Detection and Response (121)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/managed-detection-and-response) - [Threat Intelligence (82)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/threat-intelligence) - [Virtualization & Data Center Security (82)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/virtualization-data-center-security) - [IT Compliance & Regulations (75)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/it-compliance-regulations) - [Bitdefender Threat Debrief (59)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/bitdefender-threat-debrief) - [Managed Service Providers (55)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/managed-service-providers) - [#Featured (52)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/featured) - [Advanced Persistent Threats (47)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/advanced-persistent-threats) - [Events (39)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/events) - [Independent Testing (24)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/independent-testing) - [Cybersecurity Advisory Services (10)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/cybersecurity-advisory-services) - [Podcast (5)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/podcast) - [AI (2)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/ai) - [top (2)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/top) See all topics ### Subscribe to Blog Updates ## Read more about this topic ### [84% of Businesses Are Likely to Expand WFH Ability Despite Security Risks. 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