Internal controls are vital to stopping data loss, whether it is from a stolen laptop, a hacked system or other incidents, according to KPMG in its recent report “Data Loss Barometer.”

KPMG researched publicly disclosed incidents of data loss and found that educational organizations, governments and health care operations are victims of most of the incidents. There were 598 data-loss incidents from January 2007 to June 2008, most occurring in the U.K. and the U.S., the report says. Twenty-five percent of those involved computer theft and 13 percent were hacking incidents.

Half of the data-loss incidents during the period were from internal sources, according to the report. Forty-four percent were from external sources, and it was unclear where the remainder originated.

Educating staff can help mitigate the threat of data loss, KPMG says. “Risks of errors are greatly reduced by implementing appropriate and clearly defined procedures around the use and handling of data,” the report states. “Staff need to understand what is expected of them with regularly implemented, tested and updated awareness, training and education programs.”

The report is available at www.kpmg.co.uk.

Filed by Michael Bradford of Business Insurance Europe, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.>