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these cloud applications from personal , unmanaged devices . Alarmingly , that is despite 55 % of respondents acknowledging that such an approach poses a significant data security risk . These findings indicate that organizations understand the risks but are operating for the sake of Business Continuity and productivity .

The results appear to be positive , with 84 % of organizations seeing either the same or higher levels of productivity from remote working .

However , risking data security is a dangerous game which puts corporate reputation and even long-term viability on the line in the event of a breach . This is reflected in the fact that almost two-thirds of respondents ( 63 %) fear their current remote working program is impacting on their compliance posture for regulations potentially risking major fines and sanctions should the worst happen .

Adoption of effective security solutions needs to accelerate . When asked about existing controls to secure remote working , only 34 % of enterprises claimed to have any form of endpoint compliance , while just 18 % had cloud DLP in place , both of which are worryingly low given the current situation .

The lack of cloud DLP is particularly notable given that 29 % of respondents claimed they were fully prepared for remote working . This means at least 11 % of respondents don ’ t feel that cloud DLP is an important component of a secure remote working program – a prospect that surely attracts cybercriminals .

Any organization looking to create a remote working program with a BYOD approach must also deploy the tools needed to properly protect sensitive data in such an environment .

Consequently , the numbers for endpoint compliance and cloud DLP , as well as those of other highly effective solutions like cloud access security brokers ( CASB ), user and entity behavior analytics ( UEBA ) and zero trust network access ( ZTNA ), should increase significantly .

With the shift to remote working shaping to become long term , businesses can no longer afford to improvise when it comes to data protection . Instead , organizations must invest time and resources into finding appropriate security solutions that are capable of securing data in a remote environment .

Fortunately , there ’ s a wide range of highly effective products and solutions available today that can quickly provide visibility and control , no matter how geographically dispersed a workforce might be .

This research was conducted during the height of the pandemic when businesses were still scrambling to formulate an effective remote working strategy . Now , months after the start of this vast shift , organizations must equip themselves with the proper tools to avoid data leakage and other security risks . •

46 INTELLIGENTCIO www . intelligentcio . com