Apricorn, the leading manufacturer of software-free, 256-bit AES XTS hardware-encrypted USB drives, today announced new research highlighting that 95 percent of surveyed organisations in the UK recognise problems with mobile and remote working, and, worryingly, nearly one in five (18%) suggest their mobile workers don’t care about security. This is an issue as the world moves away from the traditional office space thanks to Covid-19.

All (100%) surveyed IT decision makers noted that they had employees who work remotely at least some of the time, with an average of over a third (37%) of staff members who do so. With an increase in the numbers of individuals in many different companies now working remotely, this means more data moving beyond the confines of the corporate network, and organisations need to ensure that any data, be it at rest, or on the move, remains fully and completely secure.

While many are taking steps, such as implementing security policies for mobile working and bring-your-own-device (BYOD), to ensure their data is protected, just under half of respondents (44%) still agree that their organisation expects their mobile workers to expose them to the risk of a breach. This comes as a shock, considering there are many software companies out there, such as Wandera, that are aiming to make home working and internet-based working much safer. This type of software runs a zero-trust network access program, where any employee using the software will need a password to access the data. Furthermore, cybersecurity is a key feature of online working solutions, so this figure is quite high considering the programs out there available to businesses. Roughly a third (32%) say that their organisation has already experienced a data loss or breach as a direct result of mobile working and, to add to this, 30 percent of respondents from organisations where the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies are concerned that mobile working is an area that will most likely cause them to be non-compliant.