THE use of unregistered devices by employees in a hybrid work arrangement increases the likelihood of cybersecurity incidents, a technology firm said in a report.
In a survey conducted by Cisco, 87% of Philippine respondents said that their employees use unregistered devices to log into work platforms.
Meanwhile, 75% of them said that employees spend more than 10% of the day working from these unregistered devices.
“This risk associated with such a practice is recognized by security leaders with 89% of respondents in the Philippines saying logging in remotely for hybrid work has increased the likelihood of occurrence of cybersecurity incidents,” Cisco said.
About 91% of respondents also said that their employees use at least two networks, while 47% said that their employees use more than five networks.
Meanwhile, 77% of local security professionals said that they have experienced a cybersecurity incident in the past 12 months. The incidents include malware, phishing, and data leaks.
In the study, 69% of those who suffered a cybersecurity incident said that it cost them at least $100,000, while 38% placed the cost at $500,000, at least.
Security leaders from the Philippines recognize the challenges brought by the hybrid work setup, and 85% of them expect cybersecurity incidents as likely to disrupt their businesses in the next one to two years.
“The bright side is that they are gearing up to protect themselves from internal and external threats,” Cisco said.
Around 87% of the Philippine respondents said that they expect to increase their cybersecurity budget by more than 10% next year, while 95% expect upgrades to Information Technology infrastructure in the next one to two years.
According to Cisco ASEAN Director for Cybersecurity Juan Huat Koo, “to make hybrid work truly successful in the long run, organizations need to protect their business with security resilience.”
Cisco Philippines Managing Director Zaza Nicart said, “People are a cornerstone of fostering this resilience. Organizations need to educate their people on the challenges that unregistered devices and unsecured connections pose to compromised credentials and cyber threats.”
The Cisco report entitled “My Location, My Device: Hybrid work’s new cybersecurity challenge” surveyed 6,700 security professionals from 27 countries, with 150 professionals from the Philippines.
The study aims to highlight the concerns of security professionals around the use of unregistered devices and unsecured networks to access work platforms. — Justine Irish D. Tabile
