<A HREF="http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,132334-pg,1/article.html">IT staff routinely snoop on users,</A> riffling through their emails and personal files, a newly released survey has found.

One IT administrator laughingly said: "Why does it surprise you that so many of us snoop around your files, wouldn't you, if you had secret access to anything you can get your hands on?"

Few ordinary users realize that one in three of their IT work colleagues are snooping through company systems, peeking at confidential information such as your private files, wage data, personal emails, and HR background, using admin privileges.

These are the findings of a survey released by digital vaulting specialist Cyber-Ark Software, which carried out the research at last month's Infosecurity Exhibition as part of its annual survey into "Trust, Security and Passwords."