A recent research reveals that employees continue to willingly ignore cyber risks while at work by visiting inappropriate websites and downloading unapproved software. Independent research firm Vanson Bourne conducted the research on behalf of Enterprise security solution provider Blue Coat Systems. The global study included 1580 respondents across 11 countries.
The research found the actions of employees at odds with their awareness of the growing cyber threats facing the workplace. “this risky behavior can leave both sensitive corporate and personal data open to being stolen and used immediately, stored for future use, or sold into a thriving black market where compromised corporate and personal identities are traded globally,” the company said in a statement.
In India, phishing still leads as the preferred mode of being a malware carrier. The report also revealed that employees visit adult content sites at work despite being aware of the cyber security risks. “Pornography continues to be one of the most popular methods of hiding malware or malicious content. Even though awareness is high of the threat posed by adult content sites, workers are still visiting these potentially dangerous sites,” the report said.
The survey found that at 19 per cent, China has the worst record for viewing adult content sites on a work device, with Mexico (10 percent) and the UK (nine percent) not far behind. India stands 5th amongst respondents from 11 countries at seven percent for this behaviour.
Remarkably, an overwhelming 79 percent of respondents from India agree that they would encourage deploying new technologies that would help achieve business goals even if it would expose the organisation to higher risk. While 63 percent of Indian companies recognise that in addition to purchasing additional security products, it is also important to modify security policies as per need.
Additionally, unique to the average global response of 37 percent, 69 percent of the respondents from India believe that it is beneficial to hire a security analyst.
