Research Department: Work & Transformation of Society

Since the pandemic, work in companies changed and employees and employers recognized the benefits of a flexible work environment. Remote work, the most used form of flexible work, supports employee engagement and productivity, and improves employees' work-life, but requires new challenges i.e. referring to the used technology and cybersecurity because the risk of cyber threats is bigger. So, employers and employees should learn modern technologies and ensure the safety of their data, being aware of the risks of a security threat. Organizations should implement key measures to minimize cybersecurity risks in remote work environments because remote workers are particularly vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Security policies for using secure software and services, monitoring network activity as well as plans for responding to cyber-attacks should be developed. The remote work policies and procedures should be compliant with applicable laws and regulations, and employees should be trained on these policies. Cybersecurity frameworks are also necessary within remote work describing guidelines, standards, and best practices designed for cybersecurity risk management and corresponding training. This paper presents the importance of cybersecurity in flexible work environments, the requirements for employees to work securely, and employers to ensure this. The main objective of a European study with the participation of the author is first to propose a Competence Framework for defining necessary skills and requirements, for cybersecurity within remote work. The Competence Framework developed within the European project InCyT with the author's participation, is used. A methodology for the Competence Framework has been developed and will be improved after discussions with representatives of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), and SME consultants. A literature review of existing training approaches has been e done. By using the results and discussions with SMEs, a flexible, personalized awareness digital cybersecurity training program for remote workers using Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly from SMEs will be proposed, based on the training developed within InCyT. Some training modules have been already discussed with SMEs and consultants. Results will be presented in the Example section.

Employees need regular cybersecurity training to help them identify and avoid common threats such as phishing attacks and malware. Particularly SMEs need help in this context, also due to limited resources and experience but employees and employers appreciate the advantages of remote work. According to a recent survey, 80% of people answered that they would like a flexible work schedule.

Cybersecurity, remote work, training