Being "Always Connected": 80% of Employees Cannot Disconnect from Work Even Outside of Working hours

According to research findings, 80% of employees in Turkey continue to follow business processes outside working hours. While 87% of respondents respond to all work-related messages received via instant messaging applications, 81% check their work emails in their spare time. In fact, 77% of employees admit to answering work emails while on vacation or during personal time.

The pressure to be constantly available causes stress levels at work to rise. Work-related disruptions are also an important source of stress; For example, 45% of employees experience severe anxiety when they accidentally send a random message to a work group. On the other hand, not every digital mistake is perceived as equally critical: 33% of respondents view sending an incomplete email more calmly; This proves that some mistakes are seen as less "damaging" than others.

The blurring of the boundaries between private life and professional life and the spread of instant communication tools reinforce the feeling of constant monitoring and the fear of making digital mistakes in employees. 37% of the participants state that the possibility of being caught by their managers while spending time on social media instead of working at work makes them extremely uncomfortable and even frightened. This “always connected” culture has the potential to undermine employee well-being in the long term, increase the risk of burnout, and reduce overall productivity.

Kaspersky Technical Expert Brandon Muller comments:“Digital anxiety not only affects employee well-being, but also introduces cybersecurity risks for organizations. Feeling pressure to respond to messages and emails instantly, individuals are more impulsive without carefully verifying links, attachments, or sender identities.” This hasty attitude makes employees much more vulnerable to phishing attacks and other scams using social engineering techniques."

Kaspersky offers the following suggestions to employees to minimize digital anxiety and its associated cyber risks:

• Slow down before clicking or replying: Digital anxiety can trigger automatic reactions. A brief pause to check sender information, URLs, or attachments can prevent a potential security breach.
• Take the sense of urgency with a grain of salt: Cybercriminals often use pressure and fear. Be sure to verify unexpected or “urgent” coded requests before responding.
• Do not manage sensitive data over insecure networks: Public Wi-Fi networks, which are frequently used when working after hours, are vulnerable to cyber threats. In such cases, the use of mobile data or VPN should be preferred.
• Take advantage of technologies that reduce risks:For example,Kaspersky Premium includes artificial intelligence-supported anti-phishing features designed to warn users of potential threats.

In order to reduce cyber security risks arising from employees' digital anxiety, institutions can offer regular cyber security training that will enable personnel to recognize threats and react correctly even under stress. However, it is also critical to use strong cybersecurity solutions to minimize the impact of human error. Kaspersky Next's flexible and powerful cloud-based protection structure is one of the outstanding solutions in this field, supported by the company's unique cyber security experience. Additionally, email server security solutions with anti-phishing features, such as Kaspersky Security for Mail Server, help further reduce the risk of infection through phishing emails.