Home computers and smart devices have become much more than tools for email, social media, web browsing and games. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Last November, this column focused on the millions of people whose identity has been compromised by data breaches. Now, due to changes in the workplace stemming from the pandemic, the problem is exacerbated. This has resulted in insecurity in the systems and data provided to remote workers by employers, as well as the financial and personal data of employees and their families.
Two changes the pandemic has wrought seem to have a degree of permanence. First, more people than ever are working from home, especially in customer service and other information-related jobs. At the same time, many home computers have become homeschooling devices. As a result, computers and smart devices have become much more than tools for email, social media, web browsing and games.
Marty Traynor is an Omaha-based consultant in the benefits field. Recommended For You
Second, employees and their family members are using their computers and smart devices a lot more. People are loading their financial data into online and mobile payment options for transactions that have become everyday occurrences. Online and mobile payments aren't just for millennials or savvy users anymore. The combination of these factors means that employees, their dependents, and their employer data have become even more vulnerable.
Employees working from home may think that installing antivirus and anti- malware software is sufficient. They might also purchase identity protection, but these solutions are uncoordinated. Uncoordinated systems are almost certain to leave gaps that can be compromised. Recently, many of the most prominent people in the world suffered from a breach on Twitter. If they had insufficient protection, just imagine the vulnerabilities for the average person.
What about employers? In general, they have robust protections inside their systems to prevent breaches of proprietary and personal customer data. Many well-publicized identity breaches have originated from external entities, such as vendors, opening a backdoor into business systems. As a result, most businesses require robust security reviews of any subcontracting vendors. But it's a lot harder to perform that kind of review on remote employees.
Employers who have a significant portion of their workforce accessing their system remotely have opened up their data to new risks. Employers cannot control how their employees' home systems are used or protected. Many companies have become acutely aware of the need to make robust voluntary cybersecurity protection available to their employees.
This results in an intersection of the employer's business information risk and the personal risk of data breaches on the part of employees and their families. It also creates a unique opportunity for benefits professionals to work with both the employer's cyber risk management and employee benefit teams.
Today more than ever, your employer customers will see the value of offering an integrated cybersecurity suite as a voluntary benefit to employees—protecting their data across multiple risk areas.
Turn customer insecurity into security! Employers recognize that the better protected their employees are against cyber risk, the more likely they will be stress-free and productive at work. In addition, there is less likelihood that an employee will unwittingly compromise the employer's systems and data.
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