WFH cyber habits threatening corporate network security: Survey

Work-from-home habits– including password re-use and letting family members use corporate devices – are putting critical business systems and sensitive data at risk, according to CyberArk’s Remote Work Survey.

The survey was conducted in late April 2020 by an independent research agency.  The study included responses from 3,000 remote office workers and IT professionals in the United States, UK, France and Germany.

The survey, which aimed to gauge the current state of security in today’s expanded remote work environment, found that:

• 77% of remote employees are using unmanaged, insecure “BYOD” devices to access corporate systems
• 66% of employees have adopted communication and collaboration tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, which have recently reported security vulnerabilities

Convenience Often Outweighs Security – Especially For Working Parents

The study found that the risks to corporate security become even higher when it comes to working parents. As this group had to quickly and simultaneously transform into full-time teachers, caregivers and playmates, it’s no surprise good cybersecurity practices aren’t always top of mind when it comes to working from home.

• 93% have reused passwords across applications and devices
• 29% admitted that they allow other members of their household to use their corporate devices for activities like schoolwork, gaming and shopping
• 37% insecurely save passwords in browsers on their corporate devices

Are Current Work from Home Security Policies Enough?

While 94% of IT teams are confident in their ability to secure the new remote workforce, 40% have not increased their security protocols despite the significant change in the way employees connect to corporate systems and the addition of new productivity applications.

The rush to onboard new applications and services that enable remote work combined with insecure connections and dangerous security practices of employees has significantly widened the attack surface and security strategies need to be updated to match this new dynamic threat landscape. This is especially true when it comes to securing privileged credentials of remote workers, which if compromised could open the door to an organization’s most critical systems and resources.

“The security posture of organizations continues to be tested as many remote employees face daunting challenges balancing productivity and security across their professional and personal workspaces,” said Marianne Budnik, CMO, CyberArk. “As more organizations extend work-from-home policies for the long term, it’s important to capture lessons learned from the initial phases of remote work and shape future cybersecurity strategies that don’t require employees to make tradeoffs that could put their company at risk.”