Fifty-six per cent of financial services professionals are less likely to follow safe data practices when working remotely, according to new research from Tessian.

The security company also revealed 61% had indicated they could “get away” with riskier behaviour.

Tessian’s findings were based on a global survey of more than 300 professionals working in accountancy, banking and finance.

The respondents revealed the top reason for cutting security corners when working from home was because they felt they aren’t being watched by IT teams (33%). This was closely followed by the fact they aren’t working from their usual devices (31%).
 
While financial services firms put measures in place to protect against unsafe data practices, almost two-thirds of workers in the sector (64%) suggested they will find a workaround if security solutions or company policies prevent them from getting their job done. Tessian described the 68% of respondents who said their company’s security solutions impede their productivity as “worrying”.
 
The research also found that 81% had cited “damaged company reputation” as the biggest consequence of a data breach, followed by loss of customer trust (55%). Nearly half (48%) also said regulatory fines would significantly impact their company following a data breach. 

Tessian CEO, Tim Sadler, commented: “The disruption caused by COVID-19 has made data loss prevention for financial firms even more challenging as the majority of employees admit to riskier cybersecurity practices when working remotely. But failure to address the problem, and your valuable company, customer and employee data could be exposed and your business faces significant reputational and financial damage.
 
“In the new world of remote working, financial institutions must adopt a people-first approach to security. Remind employees of company policies around data exfiltration and continually educate staff on the risks their actions pose to data security.

“We’ve shown people will find workarounds if security stops them from getting their jobs done, so data loss prevention has to be flexible if it’s going to be effective.”

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