Majority (65%) of Large Businesses in Canada Have a Known and Understood Protocol for Storing and Disposing of Confidential Information, But Small Businesses Lagging Substantially (47%)

Toronto, ON - A majority (65%) of c-suite executives surveyed say that their organization has a known and understood protocol that is strictly adhered to by all employees for storing and disposing of confidential data, an increase from 42% last year, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Shred It. Another 32% say they have a protocol but that not all employees are aware of it, and just 3% say that no protocol exists.

However, small business owners are much less likely to say they have a protocol and it is followed (47%), and they're not making much headway with an increase of only 1% over last year. While 12% say they have a protocol but it is not widely known, 37% of small business owners say they don't have a protocol at all.

A protocol isn't of much use if employees are not trained on those protocols and procedures. Most (69%) c-suite executives say that their business trains their staff on their organization's information-security procedures or protocols at least on a yearly basis, while 10% say it's done once during their employment, 18% say it's done on an ad-hoc basis, and just 3% say training never occurs/no protocol in place.

It's a different story for small businesses in Canada, though. While 24% train their staff on these protocols on a yearly basis or more frequently, 6% say it's only done once during their employment, 33% train on an ad-hoc basis, and 36% say they never train or don't have a protocol in place.

Thinking about how often they audit their organization's information-security procedures or protocols for storing and disposing of confidential information to assess their effectiveness, 57% of c-suite execs say their business frequently conduct this type of audit, while 31% do so sometimes, and few rarely (7%) or never (5%) perform this type of audit. Small business owners are nearly equally split in their frequency of auditing their procedures or protocols as 28% do so frequently, 28% do so sometimes, 22% rarely, and 22% never audit these procedures.

Large businesses in Canada aren't just auditing their own organizations to ensure compliance, but extending those checks to their vendors and suppliers as well. When procuring a third-party vendor, 45% of large businesses in Canada say they check to ensure that they have an information security policy in place, and 41% are looking to ensure that their prospective vendor has a security breach incident response plan in place. In comparison, few small businesses are looking for an information security policy (17%) or a security breach incident response plan (10%) when securing the services of a vendor.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between April 20th and May 3rd, 2015, on behalf of Shred It. For this survey, a sample of 1,000 Canadian small business owners (under 100 employees) and 100 c-suite executives (100+ employees) from Ipsos' Canadian online panel and vendor panels was interviewed online. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/ - 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian small businesses been polled, and +/- 11.2 percentage points had all c-suite execs been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Sean Simpson
Vice President
Ipsos Public Affairs
(416) 572-4474
[email protected]

About Ipsos in Canada

Ipsos is Canada's market intelligence leader, the country's leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos employs more than 600 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos' marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, and technology & telecommunications. Ipsos is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

To learn more, please visit www.ipsos.ca.

About Ipsos

Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. Ipsos ranks third in the global research industry.

With offices in 87 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across five research specializations: brand, advertising and media, customer loyalty, marketing, public affairs research, and survey management.

Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media and they measure public opinion around the globe.

Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of e1,669.5 ($2,218.4 million) in 2014.

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