Becoming aware of the modern cyberthreat landscape means also becoming aware of its inherent irony. For all the talk of how sophisticated cyberattacks are rising to record levels, the number-one threat to an organization is still its own employees. And while data security and privacy training is the first line of defense against negligent employee behavior, such training programs are falling short, according to "Managing Insider Risk Through Training & Culture," a report by Experian and the Ponemon Institute.

The survey of more than 600 IT professionals, C-suite executives, managers, and other high-level staff in various U.S. organizations found that slightly over half of organizations (55%) suffered a security incident or data breach due to malicious or negligent employee behavior. In addition, only 51% of respondents agreed that their organization's data security and privacy program was effective.

Those in the legal department were considered among the most conscientious in terms of protecting data. Sixty percent of respondents cited the legal department as the most careful, behind 67% of those citing the compliance department, and 69% citing the financing and accounting department.