A new report from Internet security firm Kaspersky has revealed that half (51%) of those working from home who started to watch more adult content admit they did so on the same devices they use for work-related purposes.
According to the study, nearly a third (31%) of workers said they are spending more of their time working than they did before. However, 46% said they have increased the amount of time they spend on personal activity. This particular change may have come about because workers no longer have to commute or travel as much than they were before.
The report also revealed that it has become harder for workers to separate working and personal activity, especially when it comes to IT. Worryingly for businesses, 51% of workers who admit they have started watching more adult content since working from home, say they have done so on devices they use for work-related purposes.
Nearly a fifth (18%) of workers even do this on devices provided to them by their employers, with 33% admitting to watching adult content on their personal devices that they also use to do their work.
Additionally, 55% of workers say they are reading more news now than they were before they started working from home. While this is understandable because people will want to stay updated with the latest coronavirus developments, 60% of this activity is done on devices that are used for work. This can though potentially lead to malware infections if employees do not pay attention to the resources and websites they visit, Kaspersky said.
Workers are also developing a habit of using their personal services for working purposes – increasing the potential risks from shadow IT, including the disclosure of sensitive information.
For instance, 42% of employees use personal email accounts for work-related matters, and 49% admit their usage has increased when working from home. Thirty-eight percent use personal messengers that have not been approved by their IT departments, with 60% of them doing it more often in their new circumstances.
“Organizations cannot just fulfill all user requests, such as allowing staff to use any services as they want to. It is necessary to find a balance between user convenience, business necessity and security,” commented Andrey Evdokimov, chief information security officer at Kaspersky.
“To achieve this, a company should provide access to services based on the principle of only supplying minimal, necessary privileges, implement a VPN and use secure and approved corporate systems. These types of software may have certain restrictions that slightly reduce usability, but offer greater assurances in providing security measures.”
