Security News > 2021 > March > Shadow IT is your organization's next remote-working nightmare
Remote working has introduced a cluster of headaches for organizational IT teams, with security being perhaps the biggest.
The use of personal devices appears to be one of the biggest culprits: 48% of respondents admitted to using their own devices to access work documents and corporate networks while working from home.
Only a quarter of respondents to Forcepoint's survey - which sampled 2,000 adults in the UK and Germany - felt that technology had been a barrier while working from home, with Forcepoint suggesting that remote working had had a psychological impact on employers that resulted in them taking more IT security risks.
"Lockdown has been a stressful time for everyone, and while employers have admirably supported remote working with technology and connectivity, the human factor must not be overlooked," said Cunningham.
Cunningham suggested that remote working should be taken as an opportunity for organizations to re-think their IT security policies for a landscape in which shadow IT is likely to remain pervasive.
"The focus should be on uncovering shadow IT uses and re-setting policies where required, but also and most critically, ensuring that critical data is defined and appropriately protected as we continue in our new patterns of remote and flexible working."