Half of Orgs Concerned Remote Working Puts Them at Greater Risk of Cyber-Attacks

Half of organizations are concerned that the shift to remote work is putting them a greater risk of cyber-attacks, according to a new study by LogMeIn in collaboration with IDG.

A survey of UK CIOs, CTOs and IT decision makers revealed that insecure practices are regularly taking place among remote workers, providing more opportunities for cyber-criminals to strike.

A large majority (80%) of organizations admitted that a portion of their workforce use personal computers to work from home, while two in five said that over 50% of their staff rely on at-home Wi-Fi networks to operate.

The respondents also highlighted that among the most pressing challenges in supporting remote working were effective IT/helpdesk support, cybersecurity management and providing secure access to data.

As a result, of the CIOs, CTOs and IT decision makers surveyed in the UK, a third (33%) listed addressing security gaps as one of their top motives for consolidating remote work tools and solutions. Other motives included scalability, costs and performance issues, with hybrid working looking set to become increasingly prevalent post-COVID.

Over half of respondents stated that workforce productivity is significantly dependent on remote technology and 41% expect to increase their investment in remote work tools and solutions this year.

Dave Campbell, head of remote solutions group, LogMeIn, commented: “This survey shows companies are clearly re-evaluating their remote work tools and will need to make changes this year, so are finding that it is vital to consider the ways the tools will impact their employees and help desk staff. This means IT leaders need to place greater emphasis on tools that will minimize disruptions in employees’ day-to-day work to maintain productivity and ensure that employees feel supported, while still ensuring they don’t fall short in terms of infrastructure, IT and data security in 2021.”

Today, research from Tanium showed that 70% of organizations are facing new security challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.