How has cyber technology created opportunities for workplace deviance?
What is deviance? Workplace deviance refers to “voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms. As a result, it threatens the well-being of a company, its employees or both.”
There are a number of ways cyber technology has opened the door for workplace deviance such as using company resources for employees gain, remote work, and access to critical information.
With technology advancing, workers, especially in the cyber field, are able to perform functions at a more efficient rate. Meaning, if they are working a 9-5 job it is almost guaranteed that all eight hours are not spent working. With that time, employees now have the opportunity to utilize the technology at work for non-work related activities such as checking their social media or watching a video on Youtube. I mean, right now I am typing this while at work. This is a very common occurrence and while it doesn’t appear outright malicious it is still considered workplace deviance.
Due to the COVID pandemic in 2020 a lot of companies shifted to a remote work environment. While this has a lot of benefits for both the company and the employee, it also opens the door for deviancy. Workers could now fabricate when and how long they were working. The bosses and coworker eyes were no longer on them, so people could pretend they were working when in fact they were out at a store or at the gym. Products such as a ‘mouse jiggler’ became popular because they could be placed on your work computer’s mouse and prevent your computer from going ‘idle’ and allowing others to see that you weren’t actually at your computer working.
Nowadays with every company operating online, if there are not proper procedures inplace, an employee could have access to critical information related to the company or PII/PHI related to a customer’s health. This information could be used in unethical ways if so desired, with the employee using the information for personal gains such as when to buy or sell company stock or even identity theft. Its important for companies to utilize proper security protocols to prevent this from happening.
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