The
study was carried out by Dr. José Ramón Agustina and Javier Sánchez Marquiegui, professors in the UIC Faculty
of Legal and Political Sciences, in conjunction with Ana Alós, a lawyer with the
Uria law firm. It was published by the Ribas y Asociados law firm.

The
study shows that 67% of large Spanish companies are not technically equipped to
prevent corporate data leaks and that although 85% have regulations concerning
the use of ICTs, only 15.6% carry out continuous monitoring to enforce them.

The
report also states that although 98% of employees have access to the Internet
and email, most companies are still unprepared to identify and resolve
incidents that can have direct repercussions on job performance and  corporate profits.

According
to the report, in cases where an irregularity of this type is detected, depending
on its severity, 37% result in an informal warning. In 22% of cases, disciplinary
action is taken and only 13% of cases result in dismissal. Criminal charges are
filed in a mere 3% of cases.

The
authors note that a leak involving sensitive corporate data could cause major damage
to a company’s reputation and may even affect its stock market value. For this
reason, companies sometimes avoid taking
these cases to court and choose to resolve the conflict internally.