Austin Hildenbrand

CYSE 200

11/11/2024

Bluf

Workplace deviance is described as the deliberate desire to cause malicious harm to an organization, which is now encouraged and imposed by cyber technology. Many workplaces face continuous cyber threats that many are not prepared for.

Phishing

One of these threats is called phishing, which is a kind of attack where someone deceives or forces someone to reveal important information or installing malware. This can create a habit of workplace deviance because employees could be forced to do malicious harm to their organization. The SHRM Foundation says, “Cybersecurity professionals consider phishing attacks to be the “most dangerous” threat to cybersecurity for their organizations,” which opens the door for workplace deviance. Phishing attempts are unlimited as they continue every day, but another related cyber issue is “cyber loafing.”

Cyber Loafing

Cyber loafing is when an employee chooses to surf the internet, social media, or check emails on company time, rather than do their specific work. This can occur in any workplace at any time. The issue with this topic is that as soon as an employee stops doing their work to surf the web, then not only does the company lose money but it can also become a cyber security threat. Whatever device that employee is using is not susceptible to a cyber-attack on them personally or to the company, as the IoT “Internet of Things” is unimaginably dangerous.

Consequences Of Workplace Deviance

Some organizations can lose large amounts of money because of this issue. The BBC says “cyberloafing – is an issue that costs businesses $85bn a year through lost time, according to researchers at the University of Nevada.” This can be catastrophic to some organizations because they don’t have that kind of money to lose. The loss of productivity comes from distracted workers. 

Conclusion

Cyber technology will continue to be a threat for workplace deviance, whether the employee or employer knows it and while there are many instances where cyber technology creates opportunities for workplace deviance, I find that phishing and cyberloafing are two of the biggest threats to workplaces.