Horror Stories: Unsecure Desktops & User Mistakes

End users and endpoints present a major security risk for companies. According to a recent survey conducted by Dell, 45% of employees admit to engaging in unsafe behavior throughout the workday including accessing confidential information over public Wi-Fi, using a personal email account for work and losing a company-issued device. Additionally, 2/3 of employees who handle confidential data are being trained on cybersecurity, but said they still don’t know how to keep sensitive information secure.

While we all know that these actions could cause a data breach, the potential consequences are sometimes a bit abstract. To help bring the potential issues to light, here are some desktop security horror stories that illustrate what could happen.

Sam and the Case of BYOD

Sam works at home full time. His company has adopted the popular bring your own device (BYOD) model, allowing them to minimize capital expense and stop the painful and costly process of provisioning hardware for remote employees like Sam.

Sam uses his personal laptop for both work and non-work functions. One day while using his computer for personal use, Sam clicks on a phishing link and his computer gets a nasty virus. What’s this mean for Sam’s work files?

Kate and the Lost Device

Kate is on a business trip. While away she uses both her laptop and iPad to access work information, including private information about employees and customers.

After Kate flies home, she realizes her iPad is missing. She’s not sure if she left it in the seat back pocket or if someone took it out of her bag without her noticing.

Jack and the Improperly Shared Data

Jack is working on a big project and wants to get ahead by working at home over the weekend. He saves the files to his personal thumb drive and takes it home where he works on the project from his personal computer. Jack saves the files to the desktop of his personal computer while working and does not delete them when he’s finished.

The next day, Jack’s wife is using the computer. Not recognizing the new files saved on the desktop, she opens them and sees personal customer information.

Anne and the Unpatched Operating System

Anne is a remote employee. Anne’s company sent her a laptop with all the applications she needs to complete her work.

One day, a notification pops up on Anne’s desktop telling her that a security patch is available for her operating system. When Anne tries to update the OS, she finds she does not have the required permissions. Anne files a help ticket with IT and continues working without updating.

What Happens Next?

What happens as a result of these situations and how can you stop these scenarios from causing major issues? Read the rest in the full edition of Desktop Security Horror Stories (including the wrong and right way to handle these scenarios).

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