The Ultimate Insider Tool: Work Technology
June 10, 2021
“Many Staff Are Still Using Work Devices for Personal and Illegal Activities” explains something about insiders. Here’s the write up’s comment about something that I thought everyone knew:
Remote employees do not always consider cybersecurity risks.
This bears live in the woods statement is supported by thumbtyping research too. The write up reports:
The password security company [Yubico, a dongle outfit] surveyed 3,000 remote staff from around Europe and found that almost half (42%) use work-issued devices for personal tasks. Roughly a third of this group use corporate tech for banking and shopping, while 7% visit illegal streaming websites. What’s more, senior members of staff are among the worst offenders; 43% of business owners and 39% of C-level executives admit to misusing work devices, with many also dabbling in illegal activities online.
How do you like that ratio seven percent? I a government agency has 50,000 full time equivalents, 3,500 are off the reservation. An industrious bad actor could seek out one of these individuals in an effort to create some fun; for example, crafting a way to generate false passports, gaining access to a “secure” network, or fiddling with geo coordinates to make a border surveillance drone watch a McDonald’s, not the area around Organ Pipe Cactus near Lukeville, Arizona.
The write up quotes the cyber security vendor responsible for the original study as saying:
“With millions of workers focused on the pressures of completing tasks in varying and sometimes unusual circumstances, security best practices are often put on the backburner.”
What’s the fix? A Yubico key, of course. But wait. Aren’t there other factors to address? Nah. Time to let the dog out and make an iced coffee with almond milk and cinnamon.
Stephen E Arnold, June 10, 2021
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