New Report: Security Threats and Productivity Challenges Rise Due to Disconnect Caused by Remote Work

ManageEngine finds 37% of remote employees have no security restrictions on corporate devices

ManageEngine, the IT management division of Zoho Corporation, unveiled findings from a new report titled the Remote Work Online Behavior Report, analyzing behaviors related to personal and professional online usage patterns. The study was commissioned to help IT professionals understand the online behaviors and technology challenges that have arisen due to remote work.

The report combines a series of surveys conducted among nearly 1,500 employees amid the pandemic as many people were accelerating online usage due to remote work and stay-at-home orders. The findings evaluate users’ web browsing habits, opinions about AI-based recommendations, and experiences with chatbot-based customer service.

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“This research illuminates the challenges of unsupervised employee behaviors, and the need for behavioral analytics tools to help ensure business security and productivity,” said Rajesh Ganesan, vice president at ManageEngine. “While IT teams have played a crucial role in supporting remote work and business continuity during the pandemic, now is an important time to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of current strategies and augment data analytics to IT operations that will help sustain seamless, secure operations.”

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Other key findings from the report include:

• Risky online behaviors could compromise corporate data and devices
  • More than half (63%) of respondents report that their organization has provided them with a corporate device to utilize while working remotely.
  • Interestingly, 37% of those respondents also say that there are no restrictions on these corporate devices. Therefore, risky online activities such as visiting unsecured websites, sharing personal information, and downloading third-party software could pose potential threats.
    • For example, 54% said they would still visit a website after receiving a warning about potential insecurities. This percentage is also significantly higher among younger generations – including 42% of people 18-24 years and 40% of 25-34 years.
• Remote work has its hiccups, but IT teams have been responsive
  • 79% of respondents say they experience at least one technology issue weekly while working from home. The most common issues include slowed functionality and download speeds (40%) and reliable connectivity (25%).
  • However, IT teams have been committed to solving these challenges. For example, 75% of respondents say it’s been easy to communicate with their IT teams to resolve these issues.
• Chatbots, AI, and automation are becoming increasingly more effective and trusted
  • 76% said their experience with chatbot-based support has been “excellent” or “satisfactory,” and 55% said their issue was resolved in a timely manner.
    • As it relates to artificial intelligence, 67% say they trust these solutions to make recommendations for them.
  • The increasing comfort with automation technologies can help IT teams support both front and back-end business functions, especially during times of increased online activities due to the pandemic.

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