Cybersecurity when working from home during COVID-19: considering the human factors 

This journal focuses on the intertwining of work life and personal life during the Covid-19 pandemic. By delving deeper into the sociological principles on how individuals during these trying times were still able to adapt to the instant and isolating societal changes. Although the people focused on this study lived in Australia, one could understand the shared psychological and sociological differences from the past that technology could not completely remedy the ‘working normal’ provided by previous working experiences. The questions addressed in this study veered towards how cybersecurity workers transitioned to a remote work style while still maintaining efficiency from home. ‘Maintaining quota’ did not seem like the hugest issue during these times, however cyber risks increased dramatically due to the new forms of attacks deployed on undertrained employees. According to the article, only about 38% of organizations have a dedicated cybersecurity policy; about 75% of businesses have no explicit cybersecurity rules that employees were not told to follow; and 53% of employees were not taught any security guidelines to follow from their employers during this period. The study used Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to understand individuals’ “lived experience” during Covid-19. Previously used to interpret works such as the Bible, the hermeneutic approach allows researchers to continuously return to the ever-developing data to create better understandings of the information provided. The data gathered was through interviews given to twenty-seven Australian employees who transitioned to remote work during the epidemic. By analyzing the interview transcripts, researchers were able to identify similar themes and core meanings from the employees’ experiences. The journal understands the negligent human factors smothering the work force with the inarticulate masses when faced with cybersecurity. Although not explicitly stated, the Covid-19 epidemic showcased the need for in-depth training and specific practices for all employees. The overall contribution this journal article provided was the hindsight of importance of cybersecurity practices in the conditions of remote work during a global pandemic.  

https://academic.oup.com/cybersecurity/article/10/1/tyae001/7588826