Use of Unregistered Devices, Unsecured Networks During Hybrid Work Model Increases Cybersecurity Risk: Survey

With hybrid model empowering employees to work remotely and ensuring business continuity for enterprises, the use of unregistered devices by employees to access work platforms is adding new security challenges for organisations in India, according to a new survey by Cisco.

The scenario is further complicated as employees are logging into work from multiple networks across their homes, local coffee shops, and even supermarkets.

According to the recent Cisco survey, nine in 10 (90 percent) respondents surveyed in India say their employees are using unregistered devices to log into work platforms.

“About 82 percent say their employees spend more than 10 percent of the day working from these unregistered devices,” it said.

This risk associated with such a practice is recognised by security leaders, with 95 percent of respondents in India saying logging in remotely for hybrid work has increased the likelihood of the occurrence of cybersecurity incidents.

About 94 percent of respondents in India say their employees use at least two networks for logging into work, and 57 percent say their employees use more than five networks for the same.

The report titled ‘My Location, My Device: Hybrid work’s new cybersecurity challenge’, surveyed 6,700 security professionals from 27 countries.

It highlights concerns of security professionals around the use of unregistered devices and potentially unsecured networks to access work platforms and the risks associated with such behaviour.

Samir Kumar Mishra, Director of Security sales, Cisco India and SAARC noted that disruption today is happening faster than ever.

“Security resilience, preparedness, and response must be at the forefront in order to navigate through the intensifying threat landscape in 2023,” he added.

The report found 90 percent of the security leaders in India stating that cybersecurity incidents are likely to disrupt their businesses over the next 12-24 months.

“The bright side is that they are gearing up to protect themselves from internal and external threats”, the study added.

With the challenges well recognised, 95 percent of security leaders in India expect their organisation to increase its cybersecurity budget by more than 10 per cent over the next year, and almost all expect upgrades to IT infrastructure within the next 24 months, the study revealed.