68% of people across the island of Ireland would like to continue working from home at least two days a week, according to new research from ActionPoint.
The Lisburn-based tech firm surveyed over 80 companies in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on how their workforces were adapting to Covid-19 restrictions.
Although the majority would prefer a hybrid mix of working remotely and in the office with the ease of lockdown rules, some major security concerns are to be addressed to make remote working sustainable long-term.
Only 41% of respondents said they use multi-factor password authentication and just 47% use phishing protection.
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ActionPoint CEO David Jeffreys said: “Because of Covid-19, there is worldwide recognition that people are working from home. To cybercriminals, this means that there are millions of sitting ducks. It’s vital that organisations protect themselves against potential phishing and hacking attacks and adopt effective measures to protect their data.”
He added that “although remote working sounds straight forward, there is more to it than technology” and continued: “Fewer than half of organisations polled had a remote working policy in place but an impressive 78% of respondents rate their organisation’s ability to work remotely as ‘good’ or ‘very good.’ This underlines the agility and adaptability of SMEs across the island of Ireland in embracing the new work environment.”
Participants surveyed cited time saved on commute, having a more flexible schedule and additional time with family as the top three benefits of remote working.
ActionPoint is an IT services and software development firm which also has offices in Dublin, Limerick and Galway.
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For more information on the report and advice on keeping your data safe online, please visit https://actionpointtech.co.uk/remote-working-report/
