The Accenture survey brought to light several examples of poor cyber hygiene in the modern workplace.
A report published today (21 October) by global professional services company Accenture has highlighted the impact of sub-standard cybersecurity training and practices in today’s vulnerable landscape.
During the month of August, Accenture, in partnership with 3Gem, collected data from 1,000 Irish office workers aged 18 and over. What was discovered is that 19pc – nearly one out of every five – of contributing professionals admitted to inputting sensitive business data such as customer details and financial information into free, unsecured artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
Accenture’s research indicates that improvements could be made in relation to how the workforce is trained to identify, combat and report suspicious or harmful material. Despite 65pc of Irish office workers receiving quarterly or annual training and 77pc likely to report a phishing attempt, 46pc of participants admitted they are unsure of what to do if they receive a suspicious message.
Furthermore, for many in the workplace, there is disagreement over who is responsible for preventing cyberattacks. Nearly half (48pc) are of the opinion that it is the role of office workers, while 42pc have stated that it falls under the purview of IT professionals.
The survey also explored the reasons as to why an employee may be slow to report a phishing or deepfake incident in the workplace. For example, they may not believe it to be serious (21pc), they may not know who to report it to (20pc), or they may be worried about being blamed (15pc).
Some of the biggest concerns for employees include AI-driven phishing attempts (47pc), identity theft through AI misuse (34pc) and deepfake threats where a person’s image or likeness is impersonated – 32pc worry about deepfake impersonations of their own likeness, while 31pc worry about impersonations of executives or leaders in the workplace.
Commenting on the report, Jacky Fox, senior managing director at Accenture Cybersecurity, said: “These findings highlight the evolving nature of cyberthreats in the age of AI and the urgent need for businesses to address gaps in training, tools, and reporting culture. While 52pc of employees feel confident spotting phishing attempts, it only takes one person to be deceived for an attack to succeed, and human error remains the leading cause of breaches.
“Our research also reveals a lack of clarity on responsibility, with employees split between whether cybersecurity is their job or IT’s. This mindset treats security as a technical issue rather than a core part of business resilience, leaving organisations exposed when attacks disrupt operations, reputation and trust.
“With AI-driven phishing and deepfake threats on the rise, businesses must prioritise training and foster a culture of shared accountability to stay protected.”
Earlier this year, Fox spoke to SiliconRepublic.com about the Irish cybersecurity industry and the challenges of ‘cyber inequity’.
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