Remote working may be great for productivity, but it’s a nightmare from a cybersecurity point of view. A recent report from security company WatchGuard Technologies asserts that most IT pros see remote and hybrid workers as a bigger threat to their organization than in-office workers.
To make matters worse, remote working isn’t going away any time soon, which makes IT pros believe cyberthreats are only going to increase in volume and destructive power in the short- and mid-term.
Drilling deeper into what they fear most, WatchGuard found that most respondents worry, first and foremost, about phishing and ransomware.
More than half of the organizations surveyed for the report said they had experienced an end-point attack, targeted at end-user computers and mobile devices, in the past twelve months. While loss of revenue is seen as the number one impact, IT pros are also worried about loss of customer trust, brand damage, as well as potential compliance and regulatory consequences.
Theoretically, IT pros know how to tackle these issues, but their hands are tied. Their organizations work on tight budgets, meaning bringing in new tools and new employees is a challenge. Furthermore, even if they did have the money to hire additional staff, finding properly skilled workers is easier said than done.
“The survey reveals that home workers are at most risk and that increasingly sophisticated phishing techniques are the most popular way to gain a ‘foot in the door’ into corporate networks,” said Jon-Marc Wilkinson, Sales Director UK & Ireland at WatchGuard Technologies.
“With budgets and skills in short supply, it is more important than ever for companies to spend their money wisely on technology that will help protect users and their endpoint devices – wherever they are – and is easy to deploy and manage.”
