The survey of more than 100 temporary staff found that 88% of respondents were able to access documents from the company network drive, 62% had used someone else's login details to access a work PC, 52% had used a co-worker's email account, and 81% had unlimited access to the internet from their work PC.
A worrying level of apathy amongst businesses toward basic data security processes is leaving them wide open to the risk of accidental or deliberate data breaches, according to Websense. Only 21% of temporary workers had signed any type of PC or web use policy.
Among the other findings, 91% were able to print any work document they liked, and 37% were given access to passwords for company systems like invoicing, procurement and payroll. Forty-two percent were able to connect a personal device like an iPod, USB key or PDA to their work PC.
Websense says that businesses are also failing to manage the use of social networking sites, which it described as "a haven for cyber criminals". The survey found that 67% of temporary workers used social networking sites like Facebook during working hours and 21% accessed peer-to-peer file-sharing sites.
