Data theft by employees of contacts, databases and confidential documents is becoming ever more common, according to research by Prefix IT.

The research found that small and medium sized companies in particular were shown to be at most risk of ‘disappearing data', with a majority of the workforce admitting to stealing. 60% of workers have removed items from the office in the past, however, almost 50% do not believe that they are doing anything that is ‘wrong’.

It found the danger of theft is compounded by widespread ownership of personal storage devices (78% of the workforce), such as USB memory sticks or iPods, capable of storing company data.

When asked if it is acceptable to take sales leads or database information from the workplace 29% of employees agreed that it was (37% of men and 25% of women) with the strongest response overall (36%) coming from those in the 25-34 age group. ?It found that more than a quarter (27%) of employees disagreed that ‘taking things from work was the same as stealing’. This response was strongest amongst 16-24 year olds (49%) and graduate trainees (41%).

It found that more than a third (37%) of respondents believe that ‘most employees would think nothing of taking things from the workplace’.