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AS OF 11/22/2008 5:00AM EST

Remote Workers Behaving Badly
By Systems Management News Team

July 15, 2008 — An August 2007 report, titled “Year Two: Security Perceptions & Online Behavior of Remote Workers,” found that IT respondents believe their remote employees are becoming less disciplined in their online behavior. More than half (55 percent) believe their remote workers are becoming less diligent toward security awareness, an 11 percent increase from the year before.

According to the study commissioned by Cisco Systems and conducted by market research firm InsightExpress, remote employees admit to engaging in the following risky behaviors, which can put the network and corporate intelligence at risk. Here’s a look at what they do, and why they do it:

What They Do	Why They Do It
Use work computers and devices for personal use, including Internet shopping, downloading music and visiting social networking sites.	“My boss isn’t around.” “My IT department will support me if something goes wrong.” “I Would never get personal things done if I didn’t do them at work.”
Allow non-employees to borrow work computers and devices for personal use. As employees work more frequently from home, the likelihood increases that they will share corporate devices with family members and roommates, who aren’t held to a company’s security policies.	“My boss does it.” “I am too busy to think about security issues.” “I don’t see anything wrong with it.” “I don’t think it increases security risks.” “Co-workers do it.”
Hijack wireless Internet connections from neighbors.	“I needed it because I was in a bind.” “I don’t have my own Internet connection.” “I can’t tell if I’m using my own or my neighbor’s wireless connection.” “My neighbor doesn’t know, so it’s OK.”
Access work files with personal, non-IT-protected devices.	“These devices are secure with anti-virus and other content security software.” “I regularly use these devices to access my network.” “My IT department has said it’s OK to do so.”
Open e-mail and attachments from unknown or suspicious sources. Many remote workers admit that they still open suspicious e-mail and attachments even though the risk of triggering a malware attack is well known.	No reasons offered.

Source: Adapted from August 2007 report “Year Two: Security Perceptions & Online Behavior of Remote Workers,” commissioned by Cisco Systems and conducted by InsightExpress.

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