Technology Reseller v43

TECH TRENDS technologyreseller.co.uk 09 and disabled people (40%); n nearly half (43%) of the UK’s 8.6 million part-time workers say they would work more hours if their employer would let them work remotely. On average, hybrid working would enable part-time employees to work 5.1 more hours each week, putting up to £3,600 extra in their pockets every year and leading to 1.27 billion more hours worked; n informal carers say they could work up to 7 additional hours per week, earning them an additional £92 every week, or £4,800 annually. Overall, cebr estimates that greater flexible working could boost GDP by £48.3bn every year – equivalent to a 2.4% uplift in GDP from extra hours worked in hybrid roles. On top of this, the report suggests that greater investment in technologies that enable hybrid working could add an extra £76bn to UK GDP by 2025, driving an uplift of £236bn by 2040. Jo Bertram, Managing Director, Business and Wholesale at Virgin Media O2, said: “Covid-19 means hybrid working is no longer a nice to have – it’s become an expected and essential part of modern work which boosts the business bottom line while creating opportunities for nearly four million people currently locked out of jobs. “By unlocking a deeper pool of talent and creating opportunities for more people, hybrid working offers businesses and society the opportunity to bounce back stronger. Organisations that embrace it will sprint ahead by attracting the best people, boosting productivity and creating a more diverse and inclusive workforce.” CYBER SECURITY Early and late afternoon are worst times for malicious email Human Layer Security company Tessian has analysed two million malicious emails flagged by its inbound email security solution Tessian Defender, from July 2020-July 2021, to find out how they slipped past existing defences, like secure email gateways, and the tactics cybercriminals use to carry out advanced spear phishing attacks. Its analysis shows that malicious emails spike in the last three months of the year, with 45% more malicious emails detected in October, November and December 2020 than in the preceding quarter. November 2020 saw the biggest spike, with around 90,000 malicious emails detected in the week of the Black Friday sales. Malicious emails are typically delivered around 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. in the hope that one will get past a tired or distracted employee. The most popular techniques are display name spoofing, where the attacker changes the sender’s name to someone the target recognises (used in 19% of detected threats), and domain impersonation, where the attacker sets up an email address that looks like a legitimate one (11%). The five most impersonated brands during the period in question were Microsoft, ADP, Amazon, Adobe Sign and Zoom. Tessian Chief Information Security Officer Josh Yavor said: “Gone are the days of bulk spam and phishing attacks, and here to stay are highly targeted spear phishing emails. Why? Because they reap the biggest rewards. The problem is that these types of attack are evolving every day. Cybercriminals are always finding ways to bypass detection and reach employees’ inboxes, leaving people as organisations’ last line of defence. It’s completely unreasonable to expect every employee to identify every sophisticated phishing attack and not fall for them. Even with training, people will make mistakes or be tricked. Businesses need a more advanced approach to email security to stop the threats that are getting through.” Bad bot alert Automated traffic makes up nearly two- thirds of all internet traffic (64%), with bad bots accounting for 39% of the total, claims Barracuda Networks in a new report, Bot attacks: Top Threats and Trends – Insights into the growing number of automated attacks . Bad bots include basic web scrapers and attack scripts, as well as advanced persistent bots that try to evade standard defences and carry out malicious activities under the radar. North America accounts for 67% of bad bot traffic, followed by Europe (22%) and Asia (7.5%). www.barracuda.com/bot-threat-report DATA SECURITY Securing home workers the greatest headache for IT teams Data leaks in the home are predicted to be the biggest security headache over the next two years as hybrid working arrangements see employees buying and installing their own technology including laptops, printers and scanners. In a survey of 500 IT decision-makers by Brother UK, 34% of respondents cited the issue as their top concern, ahead of data security in the office (27%), network security for remote workers (13%) and accountability (12%). To mitigate the risk over the next two years, 23% expect office technology to be procured centrally, with employees purchasing home tech from approved supplier lists (up from 19% today). One in ten (11%) expects employees to be responsible for buying all office and home technology (up from 5% today). Overall, security was seen as a ‘very important’ consideration by 63% of IT decision-makers, above productivity (52%), cost-efficiency (50%) and sustainability (48%). brother.co.uk/business-solutions/mps A year of hybrid working has given a big boost to office worker empowerment, reveals a survey of 2,000 UK and US office workers by Kadence, formerly Chargifi. Almost two-thirds (62%) of respondents say they now feel more trusted to do their job effectively; 64% feel a greater sense of trust because they’re not micromanaged as much as before the pandemic; 63% feel free to do their work in a time that suits them; and, since gaining greater autonomy over their working week, half feel more motivated to do a better quality job (51%) and go the extra mile (48%). Two thirds of organisations have raised employee awareness around security threats (67%) and provided training on cybersecurity (66%) to meet the challenges of remote working. Even so, 76% of IT purchases are being made without direct approval from IT teams (source: Digital Readiness Sur vey , ManageEngine, the enterprise IT management division of Zoho Corporation). manageengine.com Jo Bertram