Unregistered Employee Devices Has Increased Risks: Cisco Survey

by | Jan 10, 2023

unregistered devices, Dynamic Communication, Work From Home, security and risk management

India, January 9, 2023 — As hybrid work empowers employees to work from anywhere and ensure business continuity for enterprises, the use of unregistered devices by employees to access work platforms is adding new security challenges for organizations in India, as per a new Cisco study.

According to a recent Cisco survey, over nine in 10 (95%) respondents in India say their employees are using unregistered devices to log into work platforms. About 82% say their employees spend more than 10% of the day working from these unregistered devices.

Unregistered Devices

This risk associated with such a practice is recognized by security leaders, with 95% of respondents in India saying logging in remotely for hybrid work has increased the likelihood of the occurrence of cybersecurity incidents.

See also:

5 Rules Remote Workers Must Follow to Secure their Computing Devices

This scenario is further complicated as employees are logging into work from multiple networks across their homes, local coffee shops, and even supermarkets. About 94% of respondents in India say their employees use at least two networks for logging into work, and 57% say their employees use more than five networks.

The report titled “My Location, My Device: Hybrid work’s new cybersecurity challenge”, surveyed 6,700 security professionals from 27 countries. It highlights concerns of security professionals around the use of unregistered devices and potentially unsecured networks to access work platforms and the risks associated with such behavior.

The findings in this report are taken from an independent survey commissioned by Cisco of 6,700 business and IT leaders with cybersecurity responsibilities at organizations ranging from 10 to over 1,000 employees globally. All interviews were conducted online during August and September 2022, with respondents representing 27 markets, touching every continent other than Antarctica.

The use of unregistered devices is adding a new layer of challenge for security professionals as they tackle complexities in the current threat landscape. About 80% of respondents in India said they had experienced a cybersecurity incident in the past 12 months. The top three types of incidents suffered were malware, data leaks, and phishing.

Among those who suffered an incident, 81% said it cost them at least US$100,000, and 53% said it cost them at least US$500,000.

Unregistered devies

“2022 has witnessed several ambiguities, both presented as opportunities and risks. While it has accelerated the digital transformation journey of most businesses, it has also disproportionately expanded the attack surface,” said Samir Kumar Mishra, Director of Security sales, Cisco India & SAARC.

Today, disruption is happening faster than ever. It calls for a re-evaluation of the cybersecurity architecture to ensure that predictivity and intelligence are embedded at the core providing real-time visibility into distributed applications, security, networks, users, and services. Security resilience, preparedness, and response must be at the forefront in order to navigate through the intensifying threat landscape in 2023,” he added.

The report also found 90% of the security leaders in India stating that cybersecurity incidents are likely to disrupt their businesses over the next 12-24 months. The bright side is that they are gearing up to protect themselves from internal and external threats.

With the challenges well recognized, 95% of security leaders in India expect their organization to increase its cybersecurity budget by more than 10% over the next year, and almost all (99%) expect upgrades to IT infrastructure within the next 24 months.

Share This Article!

Brian Pereira
Brian Pereira
Brian Pereira is an Indian journalist and editor based in Mumbai. He founded Digital Creed in 2015. A technology buff, former computer instructor, and software developer, Brian has 29 years of journalism experience (since 1994). Brian is the former Editor of CHIP India, InformationWeek India and CISO Mag. He has served India's leading newspaper groups: The Times of India and The Indian Express. Presently, he serves the Information Security Media Group, as Sr. Director, Editorial. You'll find his most current work on CIO Inc. During his career he wrote (and continues to write) 5000+ technology articles. He conducted more than 450 industry interviews. Brian writes on aviation, drones, cybersecurity, tech startups, cloud, data center, AI/ML/Gen AI, IoT, Blockchain etc. He achieved certifications from the EC-Council (Certified Secure Computer User) and from IBM (Basics of Cloud Computing). Apart from those, he has successfully completed many courses on Content Marketing and Business Writing. He recently achieved a Certificate in Cybersecurity (CC) from the international certification body ISC2. Follow Brian on Twitter (@creed_digital) and LinkedIn. Email Brian at: [email protected]
Recommended Posts
The First 90 Days Are Crucial for the CISO and CIO

This book arms you with insights into crafting a robust 90-day plan, and you’ll be well-equipped to catapult into CIO or CISO roles successfully. Beyond technical proficiency, the book instills survival skills, ensuring longevity and helping you prevent burnout in these pivotal positions.

Similar Articles

How CASB Addresses Security Policy Concerns
How CASB Addresses Security Policy Concerns

Organizations are increasingly adopting CASB to address cloud service risks, enforce security policies, and comply with regulations, even when cloud services are beyond their perimeter and out of their direct control.