Remote workers a greater cyber threat than office workers
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Dec 2021
A new survey in the UK has revealed that majority of cyber security, IT and business professionals think that remote workers pose a greater IT security risk than the office workers.
The survey commissioned by cyber safety and security company WatchGuard Technologies revealed that 75% of respondents believe that remote workers pose a greater cyber security risk to their business than office workers.
About 83% of the respondents feel that cyber-attacks on their business will increase over the next 12 months. This shows the heightened level of threat as most companies return to a mix of home and office working post pandemic and 52% of respondents said their organisation experienced an increase in endpoint security incidents over the past 12 months.
WatchGuard Technologies sales director UK and Ireland Jon-Marc Wilkinson said, “The survey reveals that home workers are at most risk and that increasingly sophisticated phishing techniques are the most popular way to gain a ‘foot-in-the-door’ into corporate networks.
“With budgets and skills in short supply, it is more important than ever for companies to spend their money wisely on technology that will help protect users and their endpoint devices – wherever they are – and is easy to deploy and manage.”
“Cyber criminals will always find new and inventive ways to mount their attacks and exploit the weakest links and target employees when they are most vulnerable,” said Mr Wilkinson.
Budget problems appear to be slightly more of an issue compared with last year’s survey, with skills overtaking time constraints as a main barrier to improving security.
This year’s survey added a new dimension in looking into the effects of a breach. The main impacts of a breach to a business were a loss of customer trust as well as brand damage and compliance/regulatory issues. A