Revealed – the truth about cyberattacks and working from home

How big an impact is working from home really having on cybersecurity? If you want to know the truth, ask those in the know – the IT leaders.

That’s what human layer security company Tessian has done in its new global report, which shows that eight in 10 IT leaders (82%) believe their company is at a larger risk of phishing attacks, while 78% think there is also a greater risk of an insider attack.

The report, entitled Securing the Future of Hybrid Working, comes after an announcement from the UK government urging office workers to continue to work from home for now, amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.

“We saw last week how changes to how and where people work can happen overnight,” said Tim Sadler, Tessian CEO. “But despite all the changes, one thing remains the same – the need to keep people safe. The government’s U-turn on work from home is critical to protecting the health and safety of employees and businesses also have a duty to ensure their staff can work from home effectively and securely.

“Business leaders must, therefore, understand the strain that remote working puts on IT teams and address the risks people are exposed to. Legacy security protocols are no longer equipped to protect distributed workforces and provide visibility into the behaviours of employees who rely on personal devices, risky channels like email, and public Wi-Fi to get their jobs done.”

Some of the key points of the report were:

• Half of organisations experienced a security incident from March-July, 2020.
• Thirty per cent (30%) of IT leaders reported a rise in ransomware attacks.
• Seventy-eight per cent (78%) of remote workers who worked on their personal devices during the lockdown period between March and July 2020 said they received phishing emails, either in their work or personal inboxes.
• Fifty-eight per cent (58%) of employees have either considered using public Wi-Fi or have already done so.