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Awareness Training Doesn’t Always Mean Correct Behavior
Encouragingly, all of the respondents in the UAE (100%) claim to be aware that links in email, on social media sites, and on websites can potentially infect their devices. Eighty-one percent have even received special cybersecurity awareness training related to working from home during the pandemic. However, this doesn’t always translate into putting this knowledge into practice.
Despite the majority of respondents stating that they’ve had special awareness training, 61% still opened emails they considered to be suspicious. Meanwhile, 50% of the respondents admitted to not reporting suspicious emails to their IT or security teams.
The Younger Generation Can Be an Organization’s Greatest Risk
Despite being the most tech-savvy generation, younger workers may be putting organizations at greater risk. Surprisingly, 50% of the 16-24 age group in the UAE admitted to opening emails even though they looked suspicious. This group is also more guilty of blurring the lines between their business and personal usage of these devices.
Everyone in the 16-24 age group (100%) reported using their issued devices for personal use, while only 50% of the older – 45-54- group admitted the same.
Respondents averaged 2.5 hours of personal activity on their work devices a day, above the global average of 1.9 hours. Over a third (34%) clocked more than 3 hours of non-work-related screen time, against a global average of 22%.
The research also revealed how habits differ between males and females. In the UAE, 92% of men reported using their corporate devices for personal business versus 75% of women.
