Mobile devices are part and parcel of today’s increasingly distributed workforce. Laptops, smartphones, and tablets are provisioned by enterprises to increase employee productivity, while providing flexibility to work remotely. But when the pandemic struck, security teams across industries were challenged by the unprecedented speed and scale of the shift. This disruption created great strain for IT security teams. Pair that with the increase in employee BYOD devices, already-overworked IT teams raced to ensure only authorized devices could connect to corporate assets. 

Innovations in cloud and mobile technologies have created more opportunities than ever for employees to work remotely, using devices of their choosing. But the flexibility of technology heterogeneity in the workplace isn’t without risk. As data becomes more accessible across a growing range of devices, the attack surface area also grows wider, raising the possibility of a potential data breach.

A new study has found that nearly two in five workers admitted to clicking on a link or opening an attachment from a sender they did not recognize.