Since the start of the pandemic, many organizations have placed a priority on securing their millions of devices being used for home and remote work. In the pre-pandemic era, when most of us worked in offices, it was easy for security agents, probably in IT departments, to update company laptops and phones regularly. It was relatively easy to guarantee that their anti-virus software was up-to-date and free of spyware and malware. A new set of challenges will emerge in 2023, as workers use personal devices to connect remotely to work networks more than ever before.

Non-secure devices can unwittingly expose employees to phishing attacks where attackers attempt to trick users into divulging passwords. In a remote world, it’s increasingly likely that we’ll end up working in teams where we’re unfamiliar with each other and vulnerable to impersonation scams. Ransomware attacks are also possible, as software is injected into networks that encrypt data until a ransom is paid to the attackers. These risks increase in remote working situations, where devices may be left unattended.