The vast majority of UK workers use their work laptops for – sometimes questionable – personal purposes, prompting a warning from cybersecurity experts.
According to a survey by security company ESET, nine out of ten people use their work laptops for activities such as accessing illegal streams, gambling and viewing adult content.
Men are twice as likely as women to view adult content and are 57% more likely to access the dark web on their work laptop. 16-24 year olds are most likely to use their own USB devices and 16% admit to connecting to unsecured public Wi-Fi.
And employees are not just doing this occasionally, the study found. One in five over-18s who view adult content do so daily, and the same number engage in online gambling on a daily basis.
One in ten respondents who illegally stream sport do so daily, as do 17% who access the dark web. Almost two-thirds of respondents who access the dark web on their work laptop say they do so every week, with men 57% more likely to do so than women.
According to Jake Moore, global cybersecurity advisor at ESET, it all comes down to the work-from-home trend.
Almost half of respondents admitted to having taken their work laptop on vacation or being willing to do so, and less than half said it was for work-related purposes only.
“The increase in hybrid work models and distributed workforces has placed significant strain on security teams. Switching between on-site and remote work locations can provide employees with a better work-life balance,” Moore said.
“However, IT teams must implement processes to remotely manage employees’ corporate devices to protect their companies. At the same time, employees should be reminded to regularly update their laptops to ensure they are protected at all costs.”
Employees don’t seem to care much about what they do, Eset found: More than a third said they would feel their privacy was violated if their boss could see all private activities on their work laptop.
About one in seven believe that everyone breaks the rules now and then, and therefore think it’s OK for them to do so. Only 10% believe they would be fired if they were caught.
Employees do not use security software on their work laptops
One of the most worrying findings of the ESET study was the fact that almost one in five respondents does not have any cybersecurity software on their work device.
Another 7% said they had “no idea” whether they were adequately protected against security threats, and a fifth have no security products installed at all.
Moore noted that this aspect of the investigation should be of serious concern to companies, as some employees seem unfazed by the potential threats they face.
“We often hear that employees are the weakest link in security, and endpoint security may not be the first thing that comes to mind for many people. This can cause problems when they switch between work and personal devices,” he said.
“Companies need to ensure their employees understand cybersecurity risks and know their role in mitigating them. This includes avoiding risky behavior or accessing illegal websites on their work laptops.”
