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The Cybersecurity Pandora’s Box

The transition to remote work amid COVID-19 opened a cybersecurity pandora’s box with security and compliance gaps surfacing, paving the way for potential data breaches.

Organizations quickly looked to supply their newly distributed workforce with the technology and tools necessary to sustain business continuity, with nearly half of all employees internationally reporting they had been working remote full-time as of March.

One Device To Rule Them All: Employees Use Personal Devices For Work

The demands of today’s new work-from-anywhere reality shows that we wear more than one hat throughout the day – as a working professional, teacher, parent, caregiver, etc. As a result, device sharing with spouses, children and other family member is a typical occurrence.

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In fact, SailPoint learned that 1 in 3 U.S. employees (33%) stated that they use their own computer and smartphone to enable remote work, while only 17% use a computer and smartphone owned by their employer. This was a significant difference when compared to EMEA and ANZ, where half of employees reported remote work was conducted via employer-supplied technology.

Gone Phishing? Bad Actors Use COVID To Reel People In

With every major international event or global crisis, bad actors look to take advantage of human nature with targeted scams, breaches and phishing attacks – meaning, one of the largest threats posed to businesses today can be the employees themselves.

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In fact, 48% of total U.S. respondents said they had experienced targeted phishing emails, calls or texts in a personal or professional capacity during the first six months of remote work. Similarly, over half of EMEA and ANZ respondents (51%) experienced a phishing attack since the pandemic began, with one in ten (10%) reporting they were targeted by one or more every week.

On Guard: Businesses Need More Security Protocols

Many organizations are operating under dated protocols and are severely lacking in the important cybersecurity requirements demanded today.

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When asked if there had been any workplace initiatives promoting staff cybersecurity protection, a third of consumers said their employees encourage regular password resets and provide regular cybersecurity training. However, less than a quarter work with secure files and folders.