Many small business employees admit they have become lax with cybersecurity since they started working from home, putting both themselves and their organizations at risk of cybersecurity incidents.
See also: Phishing campaign used Samsung to target cybersecurity companies
However, the situation would be much better if small and medium-sized businesses were a little more informed about what needed to be done with cybersecurity, claims The Mobile Workforce Report 2021, a new research paper from Avast.
Surveying 500 IT decision-makers in the UK and 500 in Germany, as well as 1000 SME employees in the UK and 1000 in Germany, the company found that more than a quarter of employees (27%) admitted they were more relaxed about cybersecurity since starting to work from home.
See also: Many businesses are still unwilling to spend money on cybersecurity
It's not just the workers' fault
Additionally, another percentage (24%) did not work with safety instructions to complete their work.
This circumvention usually means sending sensitive data to colleagues through unverified channels and taking business calls while in the room with others. They also left sensitive business documents open or continued to use their home network for work while knowing it had been compromised. All of this leaves plenty of room for devices and networks to be compromised with malware or ransomware.
See also: Cybersecurity: Graduates double but skills remain the same
But blaming employees alone would be a mistake, Avast said, as only two-thirds (64%) said their companies provided IT security for remote workers. Additionally, just over half (58%) received guidance on how to handle company secrets, with a percentage (57%) receiving IT security training for working from home.
Information source: techradar.com
