Working from home has a significant impact on the risks to which company systems and sensitive data are exposed. Other family members often use company equipment, and passwords are also used for various applications.
CyberArk conducted a survey among 3000 remote workers from various European countries. The research looks at the measures companies have taken to secure the working environment. As more devices are located in more places, the attack surface has become larger.
Even though virtually all IT teams (94 percent) state that they can protect the remote workers, 40 percent of the companies have not made any changes to existing security protocols. Even though employees are using new methods and applications to access the business network.
Working parents
Of all remote workers, 77 percent use unprotected BYOD equipment to connect to the business network. Working parents pose the most significant risk because they have to take care of their children in addition to work. Nearly all working parents (93 percent) use the same passwords for different applications and devices, with 37 percent storing these passwords in the browser of a company device unprotected. Family members are allowed to use company devices to play games or do schoolwork by 29 percent of the respondents.
For companies, the rapid switch to remote working was more important than security at first. A variety of applications and services have been made available to remote workers without looking at security measures. If the accounts of employees with increased access rights are hacked, hackers can easily access crucial company data.