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Around three quarters of business decision makers (71 per cent) trusts that the shift to 100 per cent remote working during the Covid-19 pandemic has increased the likelihood of a cyber breach, in accordance to new data revealed by cyber security company Centrify, a leading provider of Identity-Centric provided access management solutions.

The data, acquired by a poll of 200 senior business decision-makers in large- and medium-sized UK companies performed by independent polling company Census wide on behalf of Centrify, also declared that 46 per cent have already noticed an increase in phishing attacks since enforcing a policy of widespread remote working. The polling happened on 26th 27th March, as the UK government declared much stricter lockdown policies to address the Coronavirus, which includes advising all workers to work from home where possible.

The research also proved that 79 per cent of business decision makers have increased their cyber security procedures to control high volumes of remote access over the subsequent three months. Further, 73 per cent of businesses have provided staff extra training on how to maintain cyber-safe when working remotely, with particular training across verifying passwords and log-in credentials.

The survey also noticed more fears that IT systems are at risk, with over half (53 per cent) reporting they believe that privileged IT admin remote access is at risk of security breach.

Andy Heather, VP, Centrify stated that, Cyber criminals will no doubt strive to seize the opportunity provided by the all-out expansion of remote workers, many of whom have not been well trained in even the most basic of cyber security measures. Therefore, it is important that businesses and workers remain vigilant during these challenging times.

Organisations of all sizes must prioritise security protocols when transitioning employees from an office to a remote working circumstance. This consists of introducing professional training for all employees on how to operate IT and online infrastructure safely, and how to spot unusual or potentially malicious activity. Furthermore, businesses should take an Identity-centric approach to secure remote privileged access, to ensure that any hackers and cyber criminals cannot gain access to sensitive systems or data.

Donal Blaney, MD, Griffin Law, a cyber security specialist legal firm mentioned that, Ignorance of the law is no defence, even with remote working. Company directors and business owners owe it to themselves, their staff, their shareholders, and their clients to know how to safeguard their businesses and their customers data. They will only have themselves to blame if they have ineffective defences. Make sure your systems are safe, train your employees, keep anti-virus programmes, hardware and software current, and clarify the method with which you connect with customers safely.

For more information about secure remote access for IT administrators, visit https://www.centrify.com/privileged-access-management/capability/secure-remote-access/

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