Did you know that 67% of remote workers are using faulty tech! This is mostly due to individuals accidentally damaging the tech themselves whether that’s through spilling a drink or due to a third party in the house such as a pet or housemate. For the most part individuals struggle through using the damaged tech mostly because they don’t want to admit they broke it to their boss! Understandably!
2,500 UK employees were surveyed by a company that sells refurbished tech. It found that out of everything, laptops were most likely to be broken, followed by keyboards, monitors and then PCs!
It is also stated that more than half of people try to fix the damages themselves, 81% of people continue to use their faulty with limited features and a third of workers switch to their personal device instead. This not only causes a loss of productivity but can also be a huge data security risk for businesses. Personal laptops tend to have less security protection than work laptops do. Such as not having security software, data encryption or enhanced password protection. They also don’t have the additional protection of being monitored by an IT department.
When an attacker gains access to an unmanaged device (e.g. an individual’s personal device) they can (if it is connected to the business’s network) gain access to the business’s wider network and all of the business’s data. This can then result in data being stolen and held for ransom. This is when the attacker encrypts all of your data so that it is useless to you and you must pay them for its safe return. This is the greatest cyber security threat to your business right now. The problem with these attacks isn’t just the attack itself (which is a huge problem) but also the aftermath. After a ransomware attack there is a huge time and financial cost involved in making sure your network is clean, protected and secured.
We would suggest making sure that everyone understands the risks of using a personal device for work purposes and make sure that everyone is trained on good cyber hygiene. You could also create a culture where it is ok if a device gets damaged as we are all human!
If you would like any more information on ransomware attacks, cybersecurity or training then please get in contact!
Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.