‘Employees are committing IT-related mistakes due to lack of knowledge’

A recent survey conducted by Kaspersky, a prominent cybersecurity firm, has uncovered concerning statistics about IT-related mistakes made by employees in Pakistan. The study, titled "Cybersecurity in the workplace: Employee knowledge and behavior," focused on employees from the Middle East, Turkiye, and Africa (META) region, which includes Pakistan. The survey found that 18.5 percent of Pakistani employees admitted to making IT mistakes due to insufficient cybersecurity knowledge.

The survey revealed several factors contributing to these mistakes. Respondents cited being in a hurry (20.5 percent), overlooking important details (15 percent), being tired or stressed (16 percent), and being overwhelmed by a high volume of notifications (16 percent) as common culprits. The constant influx of alerts, messages, and visual clutter on workstations is proving to be a significant issue that could result in costly errors, missed social engineering attacks, and even full-blown cyber breaches.

The study also explored employees' digital workspace habits. A large majority (37 percent) of respondents reported having between 10 and 20 icons on their desktops, while 36.5 percent admitted to having even more icons covering half to a full screen. Additionally, 30 percent of respondents admitted to keeping more than 10 tabs open in their web browsers simultaneously.

These cluttered digital environments not only hinder productivity but can also negatively impact device performance and inadvertently collect data on unused applications. Brandon Muller, a senior security consultant for the META region at Kaspersky, emphasized that simplifying one's digital environment is not just a productivity tip, but also a crucial cybersecurity measure.