When the office networks crash and work comes to a halt, there's probably an irresponsible co-worker somewhere in the building to blame. That's the sentiment many employees expressed in a survey on individual cybersecurity competence released today.

Sixty-four percent of American workers referred to themselves as "interested and proactive" in protecting their office computer systems, but employees have significantly less confidence in their peers, according to a survey by the Information Technology Association of America and Brainbench, a Chantilly firm and ITAA member company that sells skill tests online. About 760 people responded to the Internet-based survey distributed in May, including 403 Americans.

When asked about the contributions co-workers are making to protect workplace networks, only 35 percent of Americans said their peers know what to do and are doing it. The rest believe their peers are not aware of the issue, don't know how to deal with it or just won't bother.

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