Remote Working Revealed as Chink in Network Armour

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More than half of organisations don't ensure best practice in remote working, according to research from SafeNet. A survey of 150 senior managers showed that 45 per cent had been issued with security advice when working remotely. Only, 30 per cent said there was no best practice advice easily available, while 25 per cent were not sure if it existed. However, the same survey showed that 92 per cent of respondents have had to access business-sensitive information, from a remote location, at least once in the last six months. Thirty-five per cent said they needed to remotely connect to the network at least once a week, with 8 per cent doing this every day.

Passwords have also been revealed as the most common security measure for mobile workers accessing the network. Fifty-six per cent rely on it, despite the fact this is not a deterrent to a determined hacker. Forty-eight per cent use VPNs, while just 15 per cent use smart cards and 12 per cent use tokens.

"Organisations' data security policies are only as strong as the weakest link. Right now, remote working is the chink in the network armour", warned Gary Clark, VP EMEA, SafeNet.

"It is the responsibility of a company's Board to ensure robust security measures are in place to protect company data – within and outside the firewall. However, it is also the employees' responsibility to take appropriate care. But security guidelines are essential to making sure they are aware of this responsibility."

"Only comprehensive staff education, supported by more robust security measures and technology, such as tokens, will ensure remote workers don't leave the organisation network exposed", Clark continued.

The survey also revealed that 42 per cent didn't 'feel confident' that the data stored on mobile device was safe from hackers as well.

"With one embarrassing security breach after another from both the Government and private sector in the last year, plugging the remote working security gap looks like it will be one of the top priorities for attendees at Infosecurity Europe in 2008."

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