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IT decision-makers to expand work-from-home initiatives as two-thirds prepare for increased malware , phishing and unauthorised user and device access exposures .
84 % OF BUSINESSES WILL LIKELY INCREASE WFH CAPACITY BEYOND PANDEMIC DESPITE SECURITY CONCERNS
Despite security issues and concerns resulting from the massive and sudden increase in work-fromhome ( WFH ) initiatives caused by the global COVID-19 healthcare crisis , one-third ( 38 %) of US companies observed productivity gains during remote work and a staggering 84 % anticipate broader and more permanent WFH adoption beyond the pandemic . These results are based on the findings of new data released by Pulse Secure , a leading provider of software-defined Secure Access solutions .
The 2020 Remote Work-From-Home Cybersecurity Report , sponsored by Pulse Secure and produced by Cybersecurity Insiders , offers an in-depth perspective on WFH challenges , concerns , strategies and anticipated outcomes . The survey , conducted in May of 2020 , polled over 400 IT security decision practitioners across a broad representation of industries and companies between 500 and over 5,000 employees . The survey found that 33 % of US companies anticipate some positions moving to permanent remote work and over half ( 55 %) plan to increase their budget for secure remote work in the near-term .
The research indicates that threequarters of businesses now have more than 76 % of their employees working from home compared to just under 25 % at the close of 2019 . While a third of respondents cited their business being ‘ ill prepared or not prepared ’ for remote working , 75 % of businesses were able to transition to remote working within 15 days . Surprisingly , less than a third expressed cost or budget problems , demonstrating the urgency to support their business . Additionally , more than half ( 54 %) expressed that COVID-19 has accelerated migration of users ’ workflows and applications to the cloud .
In terms of security risks , two-thirds ( 69 %) are concerned with WFH security risks with the majority expressing low user awareness training , insecure home / public Wi- Fi networks , use of at-risk personal devices and sensitive data leakage as prime threat contributors . In terms of application exposure , respondents feel anxious over file sharing ( 68 %), web apps ( 47 %) and video conferencing ( 45 %) risks .
While 78 % expressed enforcing the same level of security controls and data management for on-premise and remote users , a further 65 % allowed access from personal , unmanaged
75 % of businesses were able to transition to remote working within 15 days .
22 Issue 30 | www . intelligentciso . com