Attitudes and behaviors towards cybersecurity during the COVID-19 situation: CrowdStrike

The CrowdStrike Work Security Index surveyed 4,048 senior decision-makers in India, Australia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, and the US across major industry sectors. The survey looked into the attitudes and behaviors towards cybersecurity during the COVID-19 situation, with many being forced to work from home.

526 Indian decision-makers across small, medium and large business enterprises were surveyed and CrowdStrike found the following:

• From February to March alone there was a 100x increase in COVID-19 themed malicious files. Yet there is an alarming lack of concern from Indian businesses.
• About a two-thirds of (61%) of Indian business leaders / decision-makers surveyed think their business is more likely to experience a serious cybercrime during the Covid-19 situation as opposed to 45% globally
• About a third of SMBs (30%) believe that cyberattacks are more likely to occur during COVID 19 situation than before
• The survey reveals that almost three fourths (73%) of senior business decision-makers surveyed admit to using personal devices to work from home during the current situation.
• 9 out of 10 Indian business leaders and decision-makers surveyed believe that the devices they use at home are secure from advanced cybersecurity threats
• In India 72% of respondents are using personal devices, including laptops and mobile devices, to do their jobs, while 93% use a mix of company-issued and personal devices.
• In India, almost three-quarters (69%) working remotely more often as a direct result of the pandemic while it is 56% globally
• Small businesses are less likely to use company-provided devices to work from home (35%) compared to large companies (68%), meaning they are at increased or greater risk of not having the necessary security software installed on personal devices to prevent cyberattacks.
• Surprisingly and interestingly (62%) of Indian businesses surveyed, the highest among all the countries surveyed, have provided additional training for their staff to learn how to avoid threats while working from home.