Over Half of Respondents Unable To Work
Today PC Matic is releasing the results of a survey with over 6,000 polled. The information, taken from adult men and women across the country, operates with the goal of assessing security practices in companies moving workers to a remote workforce.
58% of those polled said the COVID-19 closings made it impossible for them to work from home. These respondents include restaurant workers, service workers, and those in the retail industry among others. These industries rely heavily on a physical presence. On the other hand, some industries that typically do not allow remote work were able to transition to that model with little disruption.
Security Detail
Just over 40% of people who were able to continue to work from home. Of those, only 39% were provided with a machine by their employer. This is important. We’ve warned before about the dangers of personal devices on a work network. Accessing personal information can leave your organization open to hacking or dangerous malware. Moreover, the simple act of connecting your phone to your company’s wifi can put the network at risk.
Additionally, 93% of those working from home were not provided with any type of antivirus solution. To clarify, almost all of the working force polled were left to secure their machines on their own.
Personal Experience
I would say these numbers are consistent within my own social circle. Many of my friends were unemployed by the end of March, 2020. Of those that were still working (and that number is maybe 4 people out of the 30 I can think of off the top of my head), only one was provided with a machine from her employer. None of my working friends or family were provided with an AV solution.
As a result, I watched those I was quarantined with access videos, personal email, and web browsing while also logging into their company’s portals. Working for PC Matic, I was able to give them information on our COVID-19 promotion that provided companies with free antivirus through the pandemic. Of those who passed on the information, only a few had upper management that put much thought into securing their networks.
However, the companies that were taking advantage of our promotion seemed keen to keep their and their clients’ information safe. It’s important to note that many companies have extensive security practices in place on their networks. In other words, companies understand the need for security is vital, but don’t recognize the disconnect between remote and network access.
Where Do We Go From Here
As society slowly begins to reopen, we’re seeing a trend in newly remote workers continuing the lifestyle. It makes sense. Subsequently, offices are realizing productivity stays the same or increases while cost decreases.
There are warnings that a second wave will hit later in the year. As a result, most companies are making plans to continue remote work if that occurs. In the meantime, workers and consumers should be advocating for a strong security plan to be apart of those road maps.
We’re all in this together, as many have said, and keeping our data secure is the responsibility of us all.
To read the full report on PC Matic’s findings, please visit us here.
