« On Alliances and Communities | Main | Evolving Networks »
October 10, 2006
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
“Globally, two-thirds of employees are cognizant of security risks when working remotely on company machines. That's the good news. Of course, the converse is that one-third connect blindly to the Internet, in spite of hacking, theft and malware threats.”
That’s how VARBusiness describes the results of a global security survey of more than 1,000 teleworkers in 10 countries.
While most remote workers say they are aware of security issues, their behavior often doesn’t show it.
The survey by an independent marketing firm commissioned by Cisco, was designed to better understand how teleworkers' perceptions and behavior heighten security risks for the global network community, information technology (IT) organizations and the businesses they support.
While two of every three teleworkers surveyed said they were aware of security concerns when working remotely, many admitted behavior that undermines and contradicts their awareness. Their reasons offer valuable insight for IT and security managers around the world, fueling a need for tighter, proactive relationships with end users.
For example, more than one of every five remote workers surveyed allow friends, family members or other non-employees to use his or her work computer to access the Internet. In China, more than two of every five admitted to sharing their work computers. And in Japan, more end users share their work computers with others than those who use them for their own personal use.
Top excuses: "I don't see anything wrong with it"; "My company doesn't mind me doing so"; "I don't think letting them use it increases security risks"; "I doubt my company would care"; "Co-workers do it"
“The immediate takeaway is that companies must do more to raise user security awareness and change risky computing habits," VARBusiness wrote.
Posted by Jack McCarthy on October 10, 2006 03:07 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://blogs.cisco.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-t.cgi/670
