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JumpCloud Survey: Security Priorities Geared Toward Ongoing Remote-Hybrid Work

JumpCloud Survey: Security Priorities Geared Toward Ongoing Remote-Hybrid Work

Enterprise software company JumpCloud recently released findings from its Q4 Biannual 2021 State of the SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) IT Admin Report, looking at the ongoing impact of the pandemic on the expectations of IT budgets, confidence in securing hybrid-remote work, and overall satisfaction with IT. Over 1,000 IT professionals from small and mid-size businesses, across a variety of industries, were polled.

A key finding from the report is that security priorities are largely geared toward ongoing remote-hybrid work as the pandemic continues to impact workers’ desire to work remotely and employers’ desire to be flexible and retain talent. The top three security priorities are: adding layered security for secure remote work, making remote work easier for end-users, and making remote work easier for the admins.

JumpCloud principal product manager Tom Bridge commented, "While millions of organizations have transitioned to hybrid-remote work, these results highlight that IT admins continue to look for ways to improve the employee experience and make workflows simple and secure. The need for layered security and a centralized, simple employee experience is a top priority for organizations."

Eighty-two percent of respondents said their companies regularly communicate security best practices with employees. Thirty percent said their organization is spending too much money to enable remote work, but that’s actually down significantly from when JumpCloud conducted a similar survey in May, when the number was 56 percent. This would seem to suggest an increase in efficiency and/or a greater appreciation for the need for ongoing remote work.

The top security concerns IT professionals have, according to the survey, are software security exploits, ransomware, and use of unsecured networks. The percentage of those citing software exploits has dropped by two percent since the previous survey to 37 percent. Ransomware concerns, on the other hand, have increased by seven percent to 35 percent. Concerns about unsecured networks are down four percent to 33 percent since the May survey, when the top concerns were software vulnerabilities, employees using the same username/password across apps, and use of unsecured networks.

More broadly, the biggest challenges IT departments have faced since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the survey, include ongoing management of remote workers; the cost of solutions to make remote work; device management; increased work burden; and migrating workers to full or partial remote work.

IT workload

Image via JumpCloud

As security concerns around remote work persist, IT budgets have largely increased. Twenty-nine percent of respondents said their budget increased by 10 to 20 percent. Twenty-five percent said their budget increased by up to 10 percent. Twenty percent said it increased by 20 to 30 percent.

IT wordload2

Image via JumpCloud

It seems that employees themselves are getting more savvy about security as they improve at following best practices. In the May survey, 74 percent of IT professional respondents said remote work made it harder for employees to follow good security practices, but in the latest poll, the number was only 59 percent.

With remote work becoming more commonplace regardless of the state of the pandemic, employers, IT staff, and other employees alike should all find themselves getting more comfortable with security best practices both at home and at the office.


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