Cyber Risk Survey: 7 in 10 Employed Americans Admit Working Around Company IT Policies To Be More Productive and Efficient

NEW YORK, Dec. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Venn, the virtual desktop alternative company challenging the VDI market, today announced findings from their recent survey of nearly a thousand American workers (employed full-time/part-time) conducted online by The Harris Poll. The survey found that 71% of employed Americans admit to working around their company's own IT policies and procedures in order to be more productive and efficient at their job.

Managed service providers (MSPs) and IT leaders recognize that this type of well-intentioned, but rogue user behavior significantly increases the risks of ransomware, third-party software, social engineering hacks, DDoS attacks, cloud-based data breaches and other security threats. Left unchecked, these can lead to costly fines, complex audit requirements and irreversible reputational damage.

"This is a clear wake-up call for IT teams and MSPs -- that legacy virtual desktop infrastructures are absolutely failing in the new modern modes of work," said David Matalon, CEO and Co-Founder of Venn. "Today's companies caught in a dangerous Security/Workaround Paradox – that the more security protocols they put in place, the more users will find workarounds to stay productive. This further proves to the industry that the only truly secure platforms are ones that help, not hinder, user productivity."

Additional findings from the national Venn/Harris Poll survey of employed Americans  include the following actions have been taking to get around company IT policies/procedures to be more productive/efficient at their job:

• 33% have used their personal device for work activities
• 26% conducted work activities while using "free" Wi-Fi in a public location
• 25% have used the same or very similar password across multiple logins
• 23% have used their work device for personal activities

Introducing Venn – the Industry's First Virtual Desktop Alternative

To address the growing security threats of today's remote and hybrid workers, Venn has launched a new platform seen as the industry's first Virtual Desktop Alternative. Powered by its patented LocalZone™ technology, the Venn platform delivers Zero Trust security with a 10X better user experience over legacy virtual desktop approaches.

The LocalZone™ technology isolates work applications and data from personal computing activities locally, on any user device. LocalZone's bright blue border appears around all work-related applications, browser windows, and documents to indicate they are within a company-controlled zone of protection.  All non-work activities appear outside of the bright blue border, assuring users of their personal privacy.

Designed for today's security-minded firms, Venn provides the same centralized security & compliance control of legacy VDI, but allows users for the first time to work the way they want to in native applications, without the lag time and clunky protocols of remote approaches.  With Venn, users work safely with sensitive applications and confidential company information on any device, including personal laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. 

A new Venn whitepaper, video, demo and glowing customer testimonials can be found here.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Venn between August 10-12, 2021 among 994 adults who are employed full time or part time. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact [email protected].

About Venn

Venn® is the industry's first Virtual Desktop Alternative (VDA) built for regulated and security-minded organizations. Powered by its patented LocalZone™ technology, Venn protects SaaS applications and data and delivers Zero Trust security with a 10X better user experience than legacy VDI. Over 700 organizations, including Fidelity, Guardian, and Voya, trust Venn to meet FINRA, SEC, NAIC, and SOC 2 standards. To learn more, visit venn.com.

SOURCE Venn