78% stressed by arduous IT security protocols

IT security is a priority for organizations, particularly after the recent cyber-attacks of the Laspus$ group.

The attacks from Laspus$ were aimed at global enterprises like Nvidia, Samsung, and Microsoft; and ultimately they reinforce the need for secure systems.

However, there is a disconnect between workers and IT specialists when it comes to the effectiveness of security tools.

In fact, security platform Zivver has found that 78% of employees felt that the IT environment they use requires them to grapple with too many arduous IT security protocols and disparate IT systems. Ultimately, respondents claim that this hinders productivity and increases the risk of mistakes.

To better understand the perception of IT security, Zivver spoke to 6,000 end-users and 850 IT decision-makers in Europe and the US, as part of its ‘Freedom to Focus: securely empowered employees, protected businesses‘ report.

Mind the gap

The survey found that half of the employees believe IT security slows them down and makes them less productive. So much so, that email errors can occur because of security features.

On the back of this sentiment, only 36% put their security training into practice and 33% questioned the value of the training. In contrast, 85% noted that security training was essential and 76% believed that training reduced email security issues.

With these statistics in mind, it is clear that the learning and development (L&D) component of IT security needs to be improved. After all, if employees don’t see the value or actively engage, the company has lost time and money.

To make sure training sticks, it is important not to stick to a webpage with a block of information, but discuss the topic through different mediums to appeal to the varied skills of the workforce.

Security as a distraction

IT leaders largely (82%) agreed that employees should be able to focus without distraction, (33%) believe sensitive data has been put at risk due to outbound emails and 79% of IT leaders think that smarter email data security could reduce errors.

Some leaders may see the security of the organization as paramount, particularly as most employees (88%) rely on email communication, but security measures can have a negative impact on workflow.

The hybrid workplace has led to a host of new security risks, and Zivver found that employees are overwhelmed by tech. In fact, digital communications are driving employees to distraction (34%) increasing stress (29%), causing difficulties in switching off (25%), and increasing data security concerns (23%).  

IT teams have a lot of issues to conquer and 91% of IT leaders agree that they could be more progressive in how they manage risks to an organization.

The need for progressive security methods is illustrated by the fact that one in ten employees considers quitting over tech tools in the workplace.

Risk management doesn’t have to be placed on employees, instead, protocols can be put in place that automates the removal of questionable emails and enables staff to go about their work.

Comments on security

Discussing the findings, Wouter Klinkhamer, CEO at Zivver, said: “We can try to design cybersecurity so employees don’t make errors, but errors are ubiquitous.

“The best businesses are those that best manage employee mistakes to prevent them from turning into a security incident. 

Klinkhamer added: “IT teams need to engage with employees without security measures getting in their way and create an effortless and frictionless experience by tailoring security policies and technology to them.

“It is up to business leaders to act with intent to provide workers with the smart technology. With the ability to send emails in a highly secure and unobtrusive way and flagging potential mistakes in advance, employees are empowered to be effective and secure in their day-to-day work.”

Offering additional comment on the findings, Steven Bond, information rights manager at The Open University added: “Email has been heavily relied upon for decades now, for better or worse, to disseminate the lion’s share of communication – from inconsequential one-liners to mass broadcasts.

“As more people than ever have been working remotely, email security has surged up the agenda for businesses. Supporting people to be able to make better decisions, implement effortless tools, and avoid being overloaded should be key drivers for businesses.”

Now is the time to look at security tools, and improve the experience of employees.