HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 13 July 2020 - Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), theglobal leader in cloud security, released survey results that show how remote workers addresscybersecurity. Nearly three quarters (72%) of remote workers say they are moreconscious of their organisation's cybersecurity policies since lockdown began,but many are breaking the rules anyway due to limited understanding or resourceconstraints.

Trend Micro's Head in the Clouds studyis distilled from interviews with 13,200 remote workers across 27 countries ontheir attitudes towards corporate cybersecurity and IT policies. It revealsthat there has never been a better time for companies to take advantage ofheightened employee cybersecurity awareness. The survey reveals that theapproach businesses take to training is critical to ensure secure practices arebeing followed.

The results indicate a high level of securityawareness, with 85% of respondents claiming they take instructions from theirIT team seriously, and 81% agree that cybersecurity within their organisationis partly their responsibility. Additionally, 64% acknowledge that usingnon-work applications on a corporate device is a security risk.

However, just because most people understandthe risks does not mean they stick to the rules.

For example:

• 56% ofemployees admit to using a non-work application on a corporate device, and 66%of them have actually uploaded corporate data to that application.
• 80% ofrespondents confess to using their work laptop for personal browsing, and only36% of them fully restrict the sites they visit.
• 39% ofrespondents say they often or always access corporate data from a personal device-- almost certainly breaking corporate security policy.
• 8% ofrespondents admit to watching / accessing porn on their work laptop, and 7%access the dark web.

Productivity still wins out over protectionfor many users. A third of respondents (34%) agree that they do not give muchthought to whether the apps they use are sanctioned by IT or not, as they justwant the job done. Additionally, 29% think they can get away with using anon-work application, as the solutions provided by their company are 'nonsense.'

Dr Linda K. Kaye, Cyberpsychology Academic atEdge Hill University explains: "There are a great number of individualdifferences across the workforce. This can include individual employee'svalues, accountability within their organisation, as well as aspects of theirpersonality, all of which are important factors which drive people'sbehaviours. To develop more effective cybersecurity training and practices,more attention should be paid to these factors. This, in turn, can helporganisations adopt more tailored or bespoke cybersecurity training with theiremployees, which may be more effective."

"In today's interconnected world, unashamedlyignoring cybersecurity guidance is no longer a viable option for employees,"said Bharat Mistry, Principal Security Strategist, Trend Micro. "It'sencouraging to see that so many take the advice from their corporate IT teamseriously. Having said that, there are individuals who are either blissfullyignorant or worse still who think cybersecurity is not applicable them and willregularly flouter the rules. Hence having a one size fits all securityawareness programme is a non-starter as diligent employees often end up beingpenalised. A tailored training programme designed to cater for employees may bemore effective."

The Head in the Clouds studylooks into the psychology of people's behaviour in terms of cybersecurity,including their attitudes towards risk. It presents several common informationsecurity "personas" with the aim of helping organisations tailor theircybersecurity strategy in the right way for the right employee.

About Trend Micro

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecuritysolutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Ourinnovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layeredsecurity for data centers, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. All ourproducts work together to seamlessly share threat intelligence and provide aconnected threat defense with centralized visibility and control, enablingbetter, faster protection. With more than 6,000 employees in over 50 countriesand the world's most advanced global threat intelligence, Trend Micro securesyour connected world. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.hk.