People working from home during the pandemic have discovered some guilty pleasures that they would now like to keep: like dress codes that are decidedly not safe for work.
A new global research project commissioned by Kaspersky studied the behaviours of 8,000 workers in small and medium enterprises. South Africans provided one of the most startling observations: 15% of respondents working from home in South Africa said they liked working without clothes.
Other novelties favoured by employees in South Africa region include weekday lie-ins (42%), binge-watching Netflix (33%), and working outside in the garden or on a balcony (32%). Other comforts favoured by employees include more time for video games (15%), takeaway lunches (18%) and showering less (10%).
As the working environment during the global pandemic shifted from secure offices to kitchen tables, many difficulties were met balancing work and private lives. According to the World Economic Forum, employees working remotely this year faced mental health and wellbeing challenges, such as childcare pressures and digital connectivity. Nevertheless, some office staff who switched to working remotely savoured this experience and discovered some guilty pleasures they want to retain.
Aside from working in the nude, which is still far from mainstream, most respondents benefited from simply working in comfortable clothes. Majority (66%) of the respondents got used to this lifestyle and would like to make it the norm in the future. Additionally, not having to make long commutes made employees happier as they could wake up five minutes before work started, while many also enjoyed taking a nap during the day (42%).
However, this newfound open-mindedness not only leads to profits but also to a certain level of responsibility when it comes to digital security. Having reliable security solutions across devices will be crucial to protect individual privacy as new ways of unwinding are enjoyed.
“This lockdown turned out to be a two-way street for people whose job allows them to work from home,” says Marina Titova, head of consumer product marketing at Kaspersky. “On the one hand, employees finally got a chance to forget about the downsides of big-city life and start working in a more comfortable atmosphere.
“On the other hand, they faced many challenges when struggling to remain productive, reorganizing their workspace and developing new habits. When you work from home your privacy is put at greater risk, making it vital that you remember to take care of your digital security.”
To make sure your devices remain secure across both work and personal use, Kaspersky suggests, people working from home should follow these recommendations:
- Do not share personal information or permit access to your accounts with third parties unless it is completely necessary. This will minimize the chances of it being found on the internet.
- Apply a webcam cover or use built-in webcam protection in Kaspersky Security Cloud which will prevent unauthorized access to your camera. This complete security solution makes your privacy, data and financial assets secured with a comprehensive set of tools, including a VPN, payment protection, password protection, PC cleaning, home Wi-Fi monitoring and parental control.
- Start using Privacy Checker to configure your social media profiles according to the level of privacy you prefer. This will make it harder for third parties to find sensitive personal information without your intent.
- Secure your Wi-Fi. As most routers have a default username and password, your router default credentials could be easily found on the internet. We recommend setting a new password and update the router’s firmware.
- Use a reliable security solution like Kaspersky Password Manager to generate and secure unique passwords for every account, and resist the temptation to reuse the same one repeatedly
To read the full report, click here.
