50% Of Employees Agree Using Company Devices As Personal Ones
Blurred visibility due to WFH has led to several cybersecurity challenges for organizations
According to the HP report "Blurred Lines and Blind Spots," work from home due to COVID19 has increased cybersecurity attacks, and the internet was experiencing 1.5 attacks per minute in 2020.
R. Dallon Adams, based on the report, writes for TechCrunch on how employees use their devices at home, what risks are possessed, and ways to mitigate such risk.
Here is what he says:
Remote work has introduced cybersecurity threats and data theft due to employees' networks not covered by corporate firewalls.
The visibility of devices, how they are being used, and who uses them are no more transparent due to WFH culture.
76% of office workers said that the lines between their personal and professional lives have blurred due to the pandemic.
Half of them agreed to be using company devices as personal devices; 46% said that they use work devices for "life admin."
33% said they download a lot from the internet and 16% of employees let their children play games. 36% said they stream online services on work devices. Also, they use it for their children's virtual learning.
According to an FBI report, there was a 238% increase in cyberattacks between Feb and April 2020 alone.
54% ITDMs have seen a higher number of phishing attacks. 91% of them feel as though endpoint security has become as important as network security.
88% of ITDM were concerned about their employees downloading non-IT-approved software, increasing the risk of a cybersecurity breach.
Implementing the Zero Trust principle is needed to build a secure hybrid workforce.
What We Think?
As days go by, it looks likely that the hybrid work situation might continue even after the pandemic ends. Many reports suggest that a sizeable group of the workforce would prefer to switch organizations if they didn’t allow them to WFH. Armed with this information, IT heads must plan to implement the Zero Trust Principle in their organizations immediately if not implemented already.
You can read the full article here.