Member Article

Majority of workers engage in risky cyber behaviour

Workers are engaging in risky behaviours that put their company at cyber risk, despite knowing the dangers, according to a global survey of more than 8,000 employees by cybersecurity firm ThycoticCentrify.

The survey polled workers from around the world to discover if they are following good cybersecurity practices and discovered that 79% of respondents engaged in at least one risky activity over the past year.

More than a third (35%) have saved passwords in their browser in the last year, a similar number (32%) have used one password to access multiple sites, and around one in four (23%) have connected a personal device to the corporate network.

Joseph Carson, Chief Security Scientist and Advisory CISO at ThycoticCentrify, said: “People working in the cybersecurity sector know how their colleagues should behave when it comes to keeping their devices safe and protecting the wider company. But are these messages getting through?

“We’d urge employers to redouble efforts to encourage the best possible digital security practices in staff and remind them of the risks of failing to secure networks. A ransomware attack or major breach has major consequences which can last for years, so every organisation needs to establish security processes and work to ensure they resonate with employees.“

In addition, 44% of respondents received cybersecurity training in the past year, meaning that more than half of the employees surveyed were left to cope alone with the threat landscape created by home working. Smaller organisations were the least likely to have given their staff cybersecurity training over the past year.

“Remote or hybrid working also poses a particular challenge to security, so organisations should be sure to embed good practices in their staff no matter where they are working from,“ Carson continued.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by TH .