Majority not prioritising security when it comes to remote working

Despite fears that remote working could lead to security breaches, over eight-tenths of business decision-makers are not prioritising it when it comes to remote working.

Wire, a secure collaboration platform found that 83 per cent of UK business decision-makers do not see security as a priority when it comes to remote working, possibly leaving them vulnerable to hackers.

However, it also found that 53 per cent of remote workers claim their productivity has either increased or stayed the same whilst working from home. Only 13 per cent of business decision-makers stated they had seen a significant drop in productivity.

Before the COVID-19 crisis broke out, estimates put the cost of cybercrime to be $6 trillion for the global economy. It is believed cybercrime will now increase due to more people now remote working.

Morten Brøgger, CEO of Wire said:

At Wire, we’ve always understood that the future of work is outside of the four walls of the company. The past several months have demonstrated that even without any preparation at all, companies can maintain and even increase productivity while working from anywhere. Yet, the importance of security in facilitating remote working cannot be understated. Just as we adjust our personal safety in the current environment, so must we work to ensure our professional safety in a future of work context.

Once this pandemic passes, employees desire a mix of remote and office-based working. The “Working from Home Survey” survey conducted by Engaging Works, founded by Lord Mark Price, former government Minister of Trade and managing director of Waitrose found that 60 per cent of workers’ ideal week would be split between remote and office-based working.  Only 16 per cent wish to remain working from home once the current situation changes.

The downsides of working from home seem to be 20 per cent of people becoming fed up with transforming their homes in to offices. As well as the feeling of isolationism as the blurring of work and home life can lead to working irregular hours.

This research was gathered by Wire surveying 500 business decision-makers in the UK.

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Darius McQuaid

Darius is the editor of HRreview. He has previously worked as a finance reporter for the Daily Express. He studied his journalism masters at Press Association Training and graduated from the University of York with a degree in History.