The Apricorn Global IT Security Survey 2021 questioned more than 400 IT security practitioners across Europe and North America about security practices and policies during remote working conditions over the past 12 months of Coronavirus pandemic (2020-2021). It found that, in some instances, its respondent organisations have placed 'unwarranted trust' in their employees, household members, and third-party vendors.

Apricorn’s Global IT Security Survey 2021’s other headline findings include:

1. 60% of respondents agree that COVID-induced remote work conditions have created data security issues within their organisations

2. 38% of this majority noted that data control during the pandemic has been ‘very hard to manage’

3. Even with these data control concerns, near to 20% admit that their work devices have been ‘used by other members of their household’. This statistic highlights the reality that remote work policies can cause even seasoned IT security professionals to relax their security stance when working outside of their office setting, the report suggests

4. While 32% state they ‘do not trust cloud security’, 25% report that they have ‘no concerns about cloud security’, despite increased use from disparate locations and a rise in the number of media reported data security breaches

5. 27% of respondents express a ‘lack of concern’ about losing employer data through third-party vendors – however, 45% of IT security professionals polled also acknowledge that they are working with more vendors that was the case at the start of the pandemic