The majority of French workers do not master the security measures according to Kaspersky

With the shift of French companies towards massive telework, it was observed that only 27% of employees deployed for remote work received adequate computer equipment from their employers. Overall, two-thirds of employees in telework mode use their original personal computer tools. This, of course, increases the IT insecurity of companies subject to such working conditions. This is in a situation where more professional information is circulating outside the professional networks of companies. Thus, it provides cyber criminals with a wider area of attack, facilitating cyber-malice that further intercepts this mostly confidential information.

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Before the coronavirus pandemic, working from home from a personal computer was something that was not decried. Because at that time, it was something that was not popular so it didn't necessarily attract the attention of cyber criminals. Which is not the case today. The increase in the use of personal computers, which is known to be the most exposed to computer incidents and phishing, has begun to take on a rather confusing proportion. Attacks or attempts to rely on phishing are multiplied. Cécile Feroldi, B2B Marketing Director at Kaspersky France and North, West and Central Africa, commented on this situation: "TPEs and start-ups alike have found themselves in a difficult situation and their first priority now is to ensure the sustainability of their activities and save jobs. It is therefore not surprising that the reflection on cybersecurity emerges instead in a second phase. However, implementing even basic computer security measures can reduce the risk of malware infection, financial fraud, or loss of business data. In addition, many cybersecurity experts make recommendations that companies can share with their employees to help them secure their devices. And of course, these requirements must be met after home isolation, when staff are likely to continue working remotely."

The risks to rampant cybercrime are well known. Especially in such contexts. At the forefront of cyber-malveillance acts, companies through their teleworkers are continually exposed to phishing. In second place, ransomware is still all the rage, as was already the case last year. Unfortunately, while 40% of businesses of all sizes acknowledged that they had allowed their employees to use personal computer equipment to perform service-specific tasks, only 27% of small businesses acknowledged knowledge of the security measures to be adopted during telework, according to a Kaspersky study. According to the cybersecurity firm, 22% of French employees admitted to storing and even storing professional information, often highly confidential, in their personal computers or on storage equipment for domestic use. 13 percent of employees would store business data in the personal cloud service.

Under these conditions, the cybersecurity company recommends these basic precautions for better protection of systems during telework:

Protect home devices with anti-virus protection solutions

Mandatory updates to terminal operating systems, as well as the software and services used for both work and personal use.

The use of robust and unique passwords for all accesses, for devices, external devices such as the wifi router or online account.

WiFi connections used at home should be encrypted, ideally with the WPA2 encryption standard.

The employee must use a VPN network for all connections.

Install software that encrypts data contained in the various devices used by the employee.

Provides employees with reliable cloud services.

Train these teleworkers in primary security measures, ranging from password management to login to different accounts through the use of reliable web software and services that meet the necessary security requirements.

Regularly backing up the data.

Provide an emergency number for teleworkers to report any form of computer-related incidents, even if it seems as small as possible.

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