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shared login and recycled password opens a potential hole for the bad actor to exploit. Cyber-criminals are well practiced at targeting this widened attack surface, while employees’ poor choices are seemingly also not going away. Today’s remote worker usually sits alone and is unsupervised throughout the day. For many, it has been this way since the most disorienting early days of COVID-19. According to American Medical Association Senior Digital Fellow, Dr. Anna Yap, one resulting malady is caused by “loss of social connection.” With “COVID fatigue,” workers tend to experience lower energy, increased apathy and, in some cases, complete burnout. These feelings, however, can also manifest in other dangerous ways, such as “fear fatigue.” With this form of exhaustion, the worker grows complacent with the numerous – and often perceived as unnecessary – security measures that he or she needs to follow as a teleworker. Complacency has become a natural result of being force-fed corporate policy that dictates they should be fearful of incessant outside attacks. Most staffers have at least a basic understanding of the risks they are taking by skirting policy but have simply grown tired of the inconveniences that sound cybersecurity habits can present. Compounding this issue is the overwhelming nature of what is at stake. The decisions made by today’s remote worker – good or bad – can have real-world implications on the employer. It is not merely the single worker’s logins, correspondences and accounts that are potentially left vulnerable. The company’s sensitive data and overall wellbeing are exposed as well. The Dangers Fear fatigue only compounds the growing risk to which companies are exposed. The work-from-homer can become apathetic to the notion that their online decisions can have a direct impact on the safety of company information and operations. In many cases, they know the organization’s cybersecurity policies and best practices but simply do not embrace them. It can lead to sloppiness with personal choices that are so critical: sharing passwords, failing to create new ones, opening email attachments or even not securing an internet connection. While instances of this may seem to be isolated, new data published by Malwarebytes suggests that fear fatigue may be far more treacherous. This study determined that 61 percent of staff members experience fear fatigue, with as many as 27 percent feeling “particularly overwhelmed.” In other words, the modern workforce has grown increasingly tired of being afraid. 20 REMOTE WORK SOLUTIONS rwsmagazine.com

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