50% of organisations adapted cyber process for remote work

According to research by ManageEngine, less than half of UK organizations have adapted cyber security processes to match changes in remote working. The survey found that 67 percent of organisations raised employee awareness around security threats and 66 per cent provided training on cyber security. 

However, according to ManageEngine’s Digital Readiness Survey, which polled more than 300 IT professionals in the UK, employees don’t appear to be fully engaged with these best-practice initiatives and less than half (47 per cent) of organisations have adapted their organisational security strategy, either by introducing new solutions or configuring the existing architecture to reflect the changing ecosystem, despite the litany of concerns while dealing with a remote workforce. Even fewer monitor employee devices to ensure their security, with only 42 per cent doing so. 

In addition, 76 percent of IT purchases are being made without direct approval from IT teams, creating a disconnect between them and other departments and opening the organisation up to security vulnerabilities from unpatched software.

With 95 per cent of companies planning to continue supporting remote workers for at least the next two years, determining how to adapt and enforce security strategies is critical given the rise in security threats. Almost half (45 per cent) of organisations have experienced an increase in phishing, followed by increases in account hijacking (38%), social media-based attacks (36 percent) and endpoint network attacks (34 percent).

Key to tackling these emerging threats upfront is placing a renewed focus on the consultative role of the IT department and its leadership within the organization, according to Chris Windley, Chairman and CEO of the Cyber Security Association.

Speaking at ManageEngine’s recent Digital Readiness Roundtable, Windley said: “The level in which IT is embedded within the wider organisation still varies depending on the business. This disconnect, in terms of level of authority and lack of sufficient operating budget, is leading IT professionals to become ‘yes/no people’ as opposed to informed consultants to other teams. There needs to be a more collaborative approach in terms of how the IT team works with the business as a whole, and how it enables access to the right tools and software to ensure cyber and data security, and integrity.”