Security issues forcing firms to reassess long-term viability of remote working

Poor cybersecurity habits among employees have raised questions about the future of remote working.

A new report from CyberArk argues that businesses could be forced to “reconsider the long-term viability” of working from home, mostly because people are failing to comply with company security policies.

The report explains that remote workers are guilty of all manner of security-related infractions, from using company devices for personal activities (logging into private email accounts, browsing social media, shopping etc.), to sharing passwords with other members of the household and installing unauthorized applications.

All these factors combine to erode the cybersecurity posture of an organization and put its sensitive data at risk.

Further, the report states, less than half of remote working employees have received any cybersecurity training that might help them work from home more securely.

For this reason, business decision-makers are now considering forcing employees back to the office as soon as lockdown is lifted and the pandemic subsides.

 “Two national lockdowns later, as we continue to adapt to this new way of operating, it is the combined responsibility of both organizations and employees to ensure that the sensitive information held by all organizations is not endangered by remote working,” said Rich Turner, SVP EMEA at CyberArk.

“Companies should continuously implement and reinforce user-friendly tools and policies. Simultaneously, employees must operate to a higher standard of security at home so as not to become an attack vector for attackers to easily exploit.”

Despite remote working being generally perceived as a driver of productivity and an enabler of a healthier work-life balance, there’s more to it than meets the eye. According to CyberArk, roughly half (49 percent) of employees have had technology issues, more than four in ten (43 percent) struggle balancing work and personal obligations and many are also feeling jaded with video conferencing.

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