WEB AND MOBILE FRAUD
Home alone workers pose a greater risk
It’s not just Macaulay Culkin who poses a risk Home Alone, according to a new cyber security survey amongst senior executives.
The majority of big and small enterprises agree cyber security risks increase with remote workers, according to Shred-it's State of the Industry Report, released earlier this month.
The report unveils information security risks currently threatening businesses and features survey results conducted by Ipsos.
When studying the cause of cyber security breaches, 47 per cent of chief experience officers and 42 per cent of SMEs cited accidental loss or employee negligence as the top reason, according to the report.
"The study's findings clearly show that seemingly small habits can pose great security risk and add up to large financial, reputational and legal risks," said Shred-it vice president Monu Kalsi.
The findings led many companies to plan information security training at the office to better protect employee networks.
However, the report found, 86 per cent of business executives agreed data breaches are more likely to occur when employees are working out of office. While chief executives do have security plans in place for these occurrences, only 35 per cent of SMEs currently have a policy for storing or deleting confidential data remotely, and 54 per cent have no policy whatsoever, said the report.
Respondents do have recommendations on how to keep information safe while employees are working off-site, which many bigger businesses are already teaching employees. In the report, the highest voted best practices were:
1. Keep sensitive data out-of-sight in public spaces
2. Be careful sharing devices with friends or family
3. Place company-issued devices away from children and pets
4. Be wary on public Wi-Fi
5. Immediately report a lost or stolen electronic device
