Last week's National Cyber Security Centre's Weekly Threat Report contained a focus on WFH practices. In this blog, we take a look into their findings.
According to the NCSC, in a recently published report, 36% of staff working from home shared that they felt forced into ‘bad security behaviours’ while WFH.
The report, which polled more than 4,000 employees and IT professionals across UK and US organisations, claims that security workarounds have increased since more people have been working remotely, potentially increasing the risk to their employers.
Over a quarter of those polled admitted to making mistakes but were worried about reporting them for fear of disciplinary action.
And more than half (54%) of senior IT staff said they were worried about infected devices being brought back into the workplace, with the increased risk of ransomware also highlighted.
It is vital organisations encourage employees to speak up, report concerns and assign no blame when it comes to following cyber security practice.
The NCSC’s Board Toolkit provides plenty of resources to help organisations make cyber security a priority, including advice on developing a positive security culture.
Advice on preparing your organisation and staff for home working is available on the NCSC website. A ‘home and remote’ working exercise has also been included in the NCSC’s Exercise in a Box toolkit.
Reporting
Report all Fraud and Cybercrime to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040 or online. Forward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk. Report SMS scams by forwarding the original message to 7726 (spells SPAM on the keypad).