Rising workplace digitisation in India not matched by cyber security initiatives, says survey

Bengaluru: While India's digital workplace transformation maturity (with a score of 64.6 per cent) overtakes that of developed nations and also the global average (62.3 per cent), its cybersecurity preparedness lags, according to a survey by technology company Zoho out on Wednesday.

In India, only 37 per cent of organisations offer cybersecurity training to their employees. The country lags behind the global rate (41 per cent), indicating a gap in employee readiness to counter cyber threats. For example, only 17 per cent of Indian workplaces stated that they have advanced security alert systems for suspicious emails.

The country woefully falls short in reporting security incidents, with just a quarter of the companies surveyed doing so. That too, it was found that only technology departments and large teams (with over 51 members) undertook strong adherence. Also, secure remote work guidelines are followed by only 33 per cent of organisations in India.

"In India, government institutions and large enterprises must reassess their digital transformation strategies to address cybersecurity gaps and enhance collaboration," said Rakeeb Rafeek, Market Strategy Lead, Zoho Workplace.

Despite these lapses, India is likely to reach an advanced maturity level in digital workplace transformation in the coming decade.

In terms of regulatory compliance, only 22 per cent of Indian organisations claim their security protocols involve compliance with industry-specific regulations, close to the global average of 24 per cent.

Shadow applications (tools used without official approval by an organisation's IT team) bring challenges such as security vulnerabilities, compliance risks, and oversight. In India, file sharing and storage (47 per cent), communication (41 per cent), and note-taking and documentation (28 per cent) are the three top areas where employees are using shadow apps.

For employees to increase to an advanced maturity level in digital transformation, it can take from 2-10 years. Based on the current level companies have to invest anywhere between Rs 40,000 and Rs 1.7 lakh per employee annually, depending on the level of maturity sought to be attained.

In the study, 5,000 employees were surveyed globally to examine the factors affecting their daily lives and the rate of digital adoption in their organisations.