Cybercriminals are an opportunistic bunch and seize on vulnerabilities whenever and wherever they arise. They capitalize on international news and trends, so COVID-19 was a prime opportunity.
According to a new cybersecurity study from VMWare Carbon Black, the vast majority of businesses have seen an uptick in attacks since the crisis began and employees started working from home.
Remote work brings additional cybersecurity challenges as employees log on through their home networks or with personal devices that might not be as secure as office environments. Cybercriminals are also targeting the cloud, which organizations are relying on to help facilitate remote work
According to VMWare’s Global Threat Report, 91% of all global respondents said they’ve seen an increase in cyber attacks as a result of employees working from home.
That is truly remarkable and paints a grim picture and illustrates the importance of a robust remote work plan that highlights cybersecurity as a critical component.
Of those reporting an increase, 7% said the attacks have increased by between 50% and 100%, and 24% said attacks have increased between 25% and 49%.
Singapore led the way in reporting attack increases, with 93% of respondents claiming that fact. The UK was next at 92%, followed by Italy at 90.5% and the U.S. at 88%. Only those four countries were surveyed.
More findings from the study include:
- Media and entertainment companies are being hit hard, with 14.5% of them saying attacks are increasing between 50% and 100%.
- Retail was also high on that same scale at 13%, but also in the 25% to 49% scale at 45%.
- Manufacturing and engineering firms (33%) also said they saw an increase between 25% and 49%.
- The study also suggests that the increase in attacks related to the company size, as 41% of companies with 501 to 1,000 employees reported high attack increases of between 25% and 100%.
- Just over a quarter of those with IT team sizes of more than 100 saw attacks increase at least 50%, while 18% with IT team sizes between 41 and 50 saw similar increases.
Read the full report for more information, but it was clear even before this report that remote work is expanding the threat landscape and can open your organization up to new vulnerabilities.
After that, check out a My TechDecisions Podcast episode about how organizations can stay secure and support remote workers.
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