Remote Work Isn’t Good for Corporate Security (Part 1)

6 in 10 Employee’s Online Accounts Have Been Compromised Since Working Remotely

Working from home has its advantages. But, according to new data, one of them isn’t keeping the organization secure.

Now that we’ve had some time to allow employees to work from home, security vendors have had time to quantify just how secure your organization really is. The most recent data comes from MFA vendor OneLogin’s 2020 COVID-19 State of Remote Work Survey Report. According to the report, 62 percent of employees have had one of their online accounts compromised, despite 60 percent of organizations implementing multi-factor authentication.

That’s nearly two-thirds of employees!

It becomes clear why such a large percentage of employees have fallen prey to a credential attack when you look at other data in this report; according to the report, employees are using very bad security practices while at home:

• 33% have downloaded a personal application without approval
• 36% access work applications from personal devices
• 45% have shared their work device with their spouse, partner, or children
• 17% have visited adult sites on a work device

As feared, employees have relaxed their sense of security while working from home; the mix of distractions, being in a home and not work setting, and blending work and personal time all have had an impact.

Organizations wanting to counteract this trend need to restore their employee’s sense of importance around being vigilant when interacting with email and the web. Leveraging continual online Security Awareness Training is the key here; educating users on not just how to behave and what attacks look like, but on why it’s important for them to play a role in corporate security – whether in the office, on the road, or at home.   Continue reading PART 2 here.

SOURCE: KnowB4