More than half of remote workers admit to accessing adult content on work devices

midian182

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In a nutshell: If you’re one of the people who’ve found themselves suddenly working from home, you might have given into the temptation of accessing “inappropriate” content on devices used for business. Don’t worry, though: you’re not alone.

According to a new report from security giant Kaspersky, 51 percent of remote workers admit to watching content considered inappropriate on devices used for work-related purposes. The report describes this as “adult content,” so we can guess what that means.

Porn sites are notorious for being packed with malware, which could make businesses more susceptible to threats, especially when 55 percent of workers are using devices provided by their employers.

They might seem obvious to readers of this site, but many people are unfamiliar with basic security precautions when it comes to remote work. Furthermore, 73 percent of workers have not received IT security awareness training from their employer since transitioning to working from home.

The lack of awareness means 42 percent of remote workers surveyed use their personal emails for work, and 49 percent said this activity had increased since the lockdown began. Thirty-eight percent of participants revealed they use personal messenger services not approved by company IT departments to communicate with colleagues, and 60 percent said they do this more regularly now they're working from home.

Kaspersky’s report shows that people are consuming more online news during the pandemic, and 60 percent are using work devices for this purpose. It may seem innocuous enough, but, like porn, accessing less-reputable sites can pose a security risk.

“Organizations cannot just fulfill all user requests, such as allowing staff to use any services as they want to. It is necessary to find a balance between user convenience, business necessity and security. To achieve this, a company should provide access to services based on the principle of only supplying minimal, necessary privileges, implement a VPN and use secure and approved corporate systems,” said Andrey Evdokimov, chief information security officer at Kaspersky “These types of software may have certain restrictions that slightly reduce usability, but offer greater assurances in providing security measures.”

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* How many times do you click on a supposedly good link, being thrown onto a porno website?
* How much of the web content polluted by porno through obfuscated ads and malicious links?

When you start considering all those cases, then suddenly the world isn't that sinister.

 
* How many times do you click on a supposedly good link, being thrown onto a porno website?
* How much of the web content polluted by porno through obfuscated ads and malicious links?

When you start considering all those cases, then suddenly the world isn't that sinister.
I probably happend to me ... never.
But it sure is a good excuse :D
It's kinda sad to see so many workers not having a personal device that suit those needs.
 
You'd be fired where I work, our security software logs and tracks everything you do on it. But your also expected to use your work laptop for work only, it's explained when you get it that the machine is for work.
 
You'd be fired where I work, our security software logs and tracks everything you do on it. But your also expected to use your work laptop for work only, it's explained when you get it that the machine is for work.
That’s the same for us too but there are thousands and thousands of employees supported by one central IT department who take about a week to give you access to a networked drive. They aren’t checking your history! They could! But they aren’t.

Of course if you give them a reason to check, say if you log into a teams meeting and your screen has a white film on it then your boss might get in touch with IT and have a look at what you’ve been up to!
 
That’s the same for us too but there are thousands and thousands of employees supported by one central IT department who take about a week to give you access to a networked drive. They aren’t checking your history! They could! But they aren’t.

Of course if you give them a reason to check, say if you log into a teams meeting and your screen has a white film on it then your boss might get in touch with IT and have a look at what you’ve been up to!

I know our logs flag certain content and send it to it security, porn, pirating or Usenet sites, and and any access to certain protocols like bit torrent or crypto mining.

We don't flag say Facebook, but if you open porn hub it's included in the daily email to it security.
 
This reminds me of an old joke. "I'd be into pornography, if I had a pornograph to play it on".

I'm into "erotic art" though, not pornography. I guess you could say I have an, "erotograph" for that.
 
Important note: This says 51% on devices used for work purposes. That includes personal devices that are used for work.
 
Perhaps we should work on improving the safety of some of the most popular parts of the internet, rather than having to shame and embarrass people. If it were safe to view porn on your professional devices, and you were doing it on personal time at home and viewing legal content, then there really wouldn't be any reason to disallow this use. It would be on the user to ensure their PC remains professional (not blasted with porn all over the screen)
 
If someone is using VPN, most likely their company has a firewall blocking any questionable content. It's a wild assumption to tie those questions together for the highest common denominator. This makes the article click bait.
 
Anybody who works in a company with an IT department should know that their use of the network or laptop is being constantly monitored by software that will flag anything inappropriate. My current company takes a snapshot of all programs installed on my work laptop every week. My previous company was monitoring a guy accessing porn for 3 months before they brought HR in and fired him on the spot.
Why would anybody take the risk of using a work laptop or phone for porn? Surely they have a personal computer, phone or tablet that can be used instead.

In other news, PornHub might be on the way out after they were hit with a hefty petition to shut them down. So start downloading videos (on your work laptops) now! Something to do with the missus for the weekend.
 
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