What Is the Value, Risk of Remote Employees? IT Surveys Search for Answers

Overwhelmingly, IT professionals appreciate remote work is here to stay, even if they're unyielding that remote workers generate risk. When asked whether the benefits of remote work outweigh the risks, 92% said they believe they do.

"They still fear that organizations leave themselves vulnerable to many risks. Their take? Organizations that haven't taken the right steps to secure their remote workers need to do so soon, especially since workplace embrace of remote work is moving faster than ever," the OpenVPN study revealed. Ninety percent of respondents believe remote workers represent a security risk in general, and 54% believe that remote employees pose a greater security risk than onsite employees.

Organizations are taking clear steps to assuage the remote work hazards, but according to the OpenVPN study they are missing the mark in some crucial areas.

Securing remote work should start with a formalized policy that applies specifically to remote workers. OpenVPN found 93% of organizations have one in place already. These policies should dictate what technology remote workers should and should not use. For example, tools such as VPNs and password managers prevent remote workers from carelessly using dangerous public Wi-Fi networks or relying on the same simple password for every account and device.

However, companies fail remote workers when they are often excluded from security meetings and trainings. But organizations seem to grasp the importance: 90% say their organization requires that remote workers take part in cybersecurity training. Organizations' embrace of security policies and trainings for remote workers is proactive, but upon closer examination, some cracks emerge in their strategies. For one, 36% have experienced a security incident because of a remote worker's actions.

"When we examine who's leading the development of remote worker security policies, we uncover the importance of trusting IT to directly oversee the initiative," OpenVPN suggested in its report. IT departments led security policy development for 57% of organizations without a remote worker-caused breach. By contrast, 49% of IT departments led security planning for companies with a remote worker-caused breach.

OpenVPN made another observation: Organizations are prone to developing a policy and then considering the initiative complete. They don't make an effort to revisit it routinely, and yet the cybersecurity space becomes riskier all the time. "The modern work trend offers many benefits to organizations, such as greater access to talent and increased employee engagement. But it also creates unique security challenges — which organizations across the board aren't yet equipped to handle."