A new report commissioned by IBM has found the average total cost of a data breach for a company that encourages agents to work from home is a staggering $5.
This figure is higher than cyberattacks where remote working was not a factor, the study added.
In the latest annual Cost of a Data Breach Report conducted by Ponemon Institute along with IBM Security surveyed more than 500 organisations across the globe – found that the average cost of a cyber incident is now a record-topping $4.24m.
But when the study analysed businesses where remote working was involved, they found that the average total cost of a data breach was above average – just shy of $5m.
The report read: “Businesses were forced to quickly adapt their technology approaches last year, with many companies encouraging or requiring employees to work from home, and 60 per cent of organisations moving further into cloud-based activities during the pandemic.”
In a bad week for remote workers, it follows news 67% of supervisors and business leaders consider remote workers more easily replaceable than onsite workers, according to a poll released today by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
62% believe full-time remote work is detrimental to employees’ career objectives and 72% would prefer all of their subordinates to be working in the office.
While most employees agree remote work is beneficial and increases performance, more than half say working remotely on a permanent basis would diminish networking opportunities (59%), cause work relationships to suffer (55%) and require them to work more hours (54%).
Other key findings from SHRM’s surveys of supervisors and workers include:
- 51% of remote workers say they spent between $100 and $499 on equipment or furniture needed to work remotely
- 61% of remote workers who spent money on equipment or furniture paid for it out of pocket
- 67% of supervisors say they spend more time supervising remote workers than onsite workers
- 42% of supervisors say they sometimes forget about remote workers when assigning tasks
- 34% of remote workers say working remotely on a permanent basis would reduce the number of career opportunities available
- 29% of remote workers say they will have fewer developmental opportunities while working remotely
A sample of 817 supervisors was surveyed online from July 16 to July 19.
