Symantec’s latest malware study for September highlights the importance of companies establishing solid and enforceable Internet usage rules to keep their data networks secure.
As eSecurity Planet reports, this is especially true for remote workers who tend to try to access more questionable content than their in-office counterparts.
However, remote workers accessing web-based malware accounted for only 1 in 1,807 website traffic blocks compared to 1 in 322 blockages for office-based workers.
In other words, while remote workers and those accessing the Internet while traveling are more prone to take risks to access questionable content, they’re apparently savvy enough to dodge malicious sites — and the resulting blocks — much more successfully than their cubicle-bound colleagues.
Remote workers are more likely to try their luck and visit dangerous sites while surfing the Internet, according to security software vendor Symantec’s most recent malware report, but surprisingly office-bound workers are more frequently denied access to explicit sites.
The findings suggest that enterprises have plenty to do in terms of setting and enforcing usage policies to prevent workers from visiting sites that are either illegal, unprofessional or, more commonly, riddled with malware.
The study found that 35 percent of all workers are more likely to trigger a website block, based on whatever corporate usage policies are already in place, when they’re on the road or working remotely.