Sixty-eight percent of sysadmins say their organisations faced increased risk of cyber security attacks due to shift to remote work

Johannesburg, 26 Aug 2021

Netwrix, a cyber security vendor that makes data security easy, announced the release of its 2021 Netwrix Sysadmin Report dedicated to the annual System Administrator Appreciation Day. It summarises feedback from 732 IT professionals worldwide about their work challenges, and also offers valuable titbits of wisdom they shared.

Netwrix asked respondents to choose their top three challenges caused by the recent shift to remote work. Sixty-eight percent of sysadmins noted they are worried about the increasing number of cyber attacks and data breaches, and 66% said their workload increased as a result. More than a third (38%) picked lack of tools to support remote work as a top challenge.

Other survey findings include:

40% of sysadmins who are concerned about rapidly evolving cyber threats admit that remote work diverted their attention away from security tasks.
29% say they are more focused on cyber security than they were pre-pandemic.
79% of sysadmins from the financial, retail and healthcare industries work more than 40 hours a week.
51% of respondents say the average salary for sysadmins in the UK and US is lower than expected.
73% say their life would be easier if users would stop clicking on suspicious links or attachments.

System administrators play a vital role in protecting their organisation’s data. Throughout the deep disruption of the past year, sysadmins were the ones battling to hold up the sky for businesses. IT teams truly need support in this battle, starting with basic privacy mindfulness from every employee and ending with investment in tools and other resources to help prioritise risks, spot threats to valuable data and simplify data security.

Ilia Sotnikov, Security Strategist & VP of User Experience at Netwrix

Here are some of the insights that respondents shared in the survey:

"IT security is only as effective as the weakest end-user. Users who click every link and download all files are like Kryptonite for security."

"This job requires constant research; what you see is just the top of the iceberg."

"I have patience beyond my years."

"My dream vacation is to spend a month in Bordeaux at the finest chateaux."

To get the complete findings of the 2021 Netwrix Sysadmin Report, please visit: www.netwrix.com/2021_sysadmin_report.html.

Private Protocol

Private Protocol is a specialized IT security distributor offering next generation solutions and has a distributed partner channel covering Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands. Private Protocol provides product bundles and strategies to assist organizations with both international and government data security ACTS and regulations. Areas covered range from mobile, data collaboration, secure messaging, O365 security, on-premises and cloud security, data classification, data discovery, file security, vulnerability management and threat assessment and zero trust security. Private Protocol also offers technical services to assist resellers and customers with their projects. For more information, visit: www.privateprotocol.com.

Media Contacts:
Nicki Munnik
Private Protocol
nickim@privateprotocol.com

Netwrix Corporation

Netwrix makes data security easy thereby simplifying how professionals can control sensitive, regulated and business-critical data, regardless of where it resides. More than 10,000 organizations worldwide rely on Netwrix solutions to secure sensitive data, realize the full business value of enterprise content, pass compliance audits with less effort and expense, and increase the productivity of IT teams and knowledge workers.

Founded in 2006, Netwrix has earned more than 150 industry awards and been named to both the Inc. 5000 and Deloitte Technology Fast 500 lists of the fastest growing companies in the U.S.

For more information, visit www.netwrix.com.

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Sixty-eight percent of sysadmins say their organisations faced increased risk of cyber security attacks due to shift to remote work

Netwrix study dedicated to Sysadmin Day also finds two-thirds (66%) of system administrators had to deal with an increased workload.