Cyber Security Threats on the rise for Remote Workers

Feb 3, 2021

Working from Home has increased cyber security fears, a new report reveals.

With one in three UK workers currently based exclusively at home, security fears are on the rise.

Cyber Security threats for Work from Home Remote workers

Millions of remote workers are significantly more vulnerable to cyber threats, according to a new BBC report.

Studies show that many businesses are not taking the issue as seriously as they should.

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One in five UK home workers has received no training on cyber-security, according to a recent survey by legal firm Hayes Connor Solicitors.

The report also found that two out of three employees who printed potentially sensitive work documents at home admitted to putting the papers in their bins without shredding them first.

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Meanwhile, a separate UK study last year found that 57% of IT decision makers believe that remote workers will expose their firm to the risk of a data breach.

"In the rush and panic to set remote working practices up, even simple data protection practices were ignored," says Christine Sabino, a senior associate at Hayes Connor.

A senior computer network manager for a global financial services company, revealed: "We see tens of different hacking attacks every single week. It is never ending."

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"We see everything," he says. "Staff get emails sent to them pretending to be from the service desk, asking them to reset their log-in passwords.

"We see workers being tricked into downloading viruses from hackers demanding ransoms, and we have even had employees sent WhatsApp messages pretending to be from the CEO, asking for money transfers.

"And having staff working from home during the lockdowns has just made it worse, as it is much harder to keep an eye on everyone."