How has cyber technology created opportunities for workplace deviance?

Cyber crime, threat, or risks are never going away, “The average annualized cost of cybercrime for global companies has increased nearly 62% since 2013, from $7.2 million to $11.7 million. And these are just the average direct costs.” (Blau, 2017).  As cyber technology such as computers, networks, internet, etc. are expanding daily, it’s creating and implementing many job opportunities, however, just like any industry there’s always a positive and negative workplace outcome.

Workplace deviance is when an employee is displaying behavior that breaks the company’s norms, rules, and expectations, which will lead to the jeopardization of the company or the surrounding employees. With cyber technology it has paved the way for deviance to take place within the work environment. Examples of cyber deviance can be the excessive use of the internet or other tech-related company resources for personal use, such as surfing the web,online shopping, etc. Gaining unauthorized access to data or information without permission is displayed as deviance. Another example is If an employee is misusing online communications, such as sending or displaying offensive and inappropriate messages on companies networks. Workplace cyberbullying occurs as well, it’s when employees use cyber technology to harass or bully other co-workers. 

Although cyber technology has been a huge contribution to society, creating several new possibilities, innovations, and advancements, it also brings some new problems and negative outcomes. Cybercrimes has been a growing problem within cyber technology innovations “ A singular instance of cybercrime can potentially cripple an organization, leading to significant financial losses, damage to the company’s reputation, and long-term impacts on consumer trust.”(Jones, 2023) With that said companies need to take in-accountability of workplace deviance and find solutions to resolve it. With the rate of threats increasing, the workplace needs to be a positive outlet to be able to combat these problems. 

Jones, J. W. (2024, January 10). Employee cybercrime and deviance: A loss prevention psychology perspective. Loss Prevention Media. https://losspreventionmedia.com/employee-cybercrime-and-deviance-a-loss-prevention-psychology-perspective/#:~:text=Examples%20of%20cyber%20deviance%20include,of%20company%20systems%20or%20data

Blau, A. (2017, December 11). Better Cybersecurity starts with fixing your employees’ bad habits. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2017/12/better-cybersecurity-starts-with-fixing-your-employees-bad-habits