One in three small business employees working remotely may be vulnerable to cyberattacks, a major study has revealed.
The research, published by cybersecurity experts Kaspersky, reveals that a huge number of small enterprise networks could become compromised as a result of Covid-19 disruption.
According to the study, almost six in 10 (57 per cent) employees working for a small organisation were not provided with corporate-owned devices, instead relying on personal hardware and software, such as laptops, tablets and smartphones, to carry out their role.
And worryingly, just a third (34 per cent) of respondents had received directions on how to work securely – such as installing antivirus technology, creating secure passwords and changing them regularly, and updating software to address emerging threats.
Commenting on the findings, Andrey Dankevich, of Kaspersky, said the attention of business owners may be on saving their company, but even the most basic software security measures could protect their business from a devastating cyberattack.
“Small companies may be in difficult circumstances and their first priority is to save their business and employees during the lockdown, so it is no surprise that cybersecurity may become an afterthought,” he said.
“However, implementing even basic IT security requirements can decrease the chances of malware infection, compromised payments or lost business data.”
He added that there are several “core steps” a business can take to safeguard remote workers.
This includes activating password protection for all devices, encrypting home Wi-Fi networks, “ideally with the WPA2 standard”, using a virtual private network (VPN), assisting employees with access to reliable public cloud services, conducting security training, and establishing a central point of contact for security issues.
The study comes after the Charity Commission for England and Wales warned that all organisations are at an increased risk of cybercrime amid the coronavirus pandemic. The warning comes after the police reported a significant increase in coronavirus-related scams, such as procurement, mandate and CEO fraud, as well as phishing and other common communications scams.
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