--- title: "Why Working from Home Leaves You Doubly Vulnerable to Phishing Attacks | DuoCircle" description: "Just the simple fact of working from home due to coronavirus leaves you more vulnerable to phishing attacks than if you were at work. Why is that?" image: "https://www.duocircle.com/images/og-default.png" canonical: "https://www.duocircle.com/blog/phishing-protection/why-working-from-home-leaves-you-doubly-vulnerable-to-phishing-attacks/" --- Quick Answer Working from home doubles phishing risk for two reasons. First, home networks and personal devices have weaker defenses than the corporate perimeter, BYOD adds operating systems and platforms IT cannot fully manage, and many organizations did not extend cloud-based phishing protection to remote staff, so emails reach personal devices unfiltered. Second, BBB and FINRA Investor Education Foundation research with the Stanford Center on Longevity found social isolation and financial vulnerability raise scam susceptibility, and remote workers usually have both. The practical mitigation is to assume any inbox message could be malicious, verify suspicious requests through a second channel, and have IT deploy cloud-based phishing protection that filters mail for remote staff the same way it does on-premise. Share [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fwhy-working-from-home-leaves-you-doubly-vulnerable-to-phishing-attacks%2F "Share on LinkedIn") [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Why%20Working%20from%20Home%20Leaves%20You%20Doubly%20Vulnerable%20to%20Phishing%20Attacks&url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fwhy-working-from-home-leaves-you-doubly-vulnerable-to-phishing-attacks%2F "Share on X/Twitter") [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fwhy-working-from-home-leaves-you-doubly-vulnerable-to-phishing-attacks%2F "Share on Facebook") [ ](https://reddit.com/submit?url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fwhy-working-from-home-leaves-you-doubly-vulnerable-to-phishing-attacks%2F&title=Why%20Working%20from%20Home%20Leaves%20You%20Doubly%20Vulnerable%20to%20Phishing%20Attacks "Share on Reddit") [ ](mailto:?subject=Why%20Working%20from%20Home%20Leaves%20You%20Doubly%20Vulnerable%20to%20Phishing%20Attacks&body=Check out this article: undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fwhy-working-from-home-leaves-you-doubly-vulnerable-to-phishing-attacks%2F "Share via Email") ![Phishing Attacks](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/04/check-DMARC-record-1509.jpg) Just the simple fact of working from home due to coronavirus leaves you more vulnerable to **phishing attacks** than if you were at work. Why is that? Because it’s almost certain that _the cyber defenses on your home network are not as good as those on your company’s network_. With regard to working at home, an [article](https://www.finra.org/) on Help Net Security points out that _working at home effectively increases an organization’s attack surface_. “This is because employees who use their own devices for work can introduce new platforms and operating systems that require their own dedicated **support and security**. With so many devices being used, it’s likely that at least some will fall through the **security cracks**.” A compounding factor is that most organizations have not yet deployed cloud-based [phishing protection](/email/phishing-protection) for their suddenly remote workers. That means emails sent to remote workers completely bypass the company’s **cyber defenses** leaving their employees completely exposed and on their own. So, just by the very nature of you using your working at home, _you are more vulnerable to the recent spike in coronavirus-based **phishing attacks**_. But now there’s another factor which makes you even more vulnerable: social isolation. From another [article](https://www.finra.org/) on Help Net Security, “Research from the Better Business Bureau ([BBB](https://www.finra.org/)), the [FINRA](https://www.finra.org/) Investor Education Foundation, and the [Stanford Center on Longevity](https://www.finra.org/) found that _people are more likely to lose money to a scam when they are socially or physically isolated from others_.” “According to our research, social isolation is a key risk factor for susceptibility to scams, as is **financial vulnerability**,” said Melissa Lanning Trumpower, executive director of the BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust, BBB’s foundation that conducted the research. [![phishing protection](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/04/What-is-a-DMARC-2003.jpg)](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/04/What-is-a-DMARC-2003.jpg) So, what should a suddenly remote worker do in response to these threats? Two things. First, have a heightened **sense of awareness** about them. You’re working at home, _your network is not as safe and there is a rash of COVID-19 phishing emails floating around out there_. Be paranoid! Don’t completely trust any email in your inbox. If you have any suspicions at all, contact the sender through some other channel. Second, get on the phone, call your IT department and tell them they need to deploy cloud-based **phishing protection software** like that available from [DuoCircle](/email/phishing-protection). You can tell them that **Phishing Protection** from DuoCircle works with all email providers, _sets up in 10 minutes and only costs pennies per employee per month_. Oh, and you can try it **free for 30 days**. Well, what are you waiting for? ![Brad Slavin](https://media.mailhop.org/dmarcreport/images/team/brad-slavin.jpg) Brad Slavin General Manager General Manager at DuoCircle. Product strategy and commercial lead across the email security portfolio. ## Secure your email infrastructure Protect, authenticate, and deliver. Contact our team to find the right solution. [Contact Sales](/contact/) [Explore Products](/products/) Share this article [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fwhy-working-from-home-leaves-you-doubly-vulnerable-to-phishing-attacks%2F) [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Why%20Working%20from%20Home%20Leaves%20You%20Doubly%20Vulnerable%20to%20Phishing%20Attacks&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fwhy-working-from-home-leaves-you-doubly-vulnerable-to-phishing-attacks%2F) [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fwhy-working-from-home-leaves-you-doubly-vulnerable-to-phishing-attacks%2F) Copy Related Articles - [ ![AI-Generated Phishing](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2026/04/spf-record-4522.jpg) AI-Generated Phishing Has Eliminated the Typo: Why Traditional Email Filters Are No Longer Enough Phishing ](/blog/ai-generated-phishing-eliminates-typos-making-traditional-email-filters-ineffective/) - [ ![spf-permerror-4555](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2023/05/spf-permerror-4555.jpg) 10 Applications of ChatGPT that Hackers Are Already Exploiting Phishing ](/blog/phishing-protection/10-applications-of-chatgpt-that-hackers-are-already-exploiting/) - [ ![Email-Based Cyber-Attacks](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2016/03/spf-record-tester-4455.jpg) 65% of Global Businesses Ill-Equipped to Defend Against Email-Based Cyber-Attacks Phishing ](/blog/phishing-protection/65-global-businesses-ill-equipped-defend-email-based-cyber-attacks/) - [ ![Email-based Ransomware Attacks](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2018/02/email-smtp-service-7834.jpg) 7 Ways to Protect Your Organization from Email-based Ransomware Attacks Phishing ](/blog/phishing-protection/7-ways-protect-organization-email-based-ransomware-attacks/) ## Related Articles [ Phishing 11m AI-Generated Phishing Has Eliminated the Typo: Why Traditional Email Filters Are No Longer Enough Apr 28, 2026 ](/blog/ai-generated-phishing-eliminates-typos-making-traditional-email-filters-ineffective/)[ Phishing 5m 10 Applications of ChatGPT that Hackers Are Already Exploiting May 3, 2023 ](/blog/phishing-protection/10-applications-of-chatgpt-that-hackers-are-already-exploiting/)[ Phishing 4m 65% of Global Businesses Ill-Equipped to Defend Against Email-Based Cyber-Attacks Mar 29, 2016 ](/blog/phishing-protection/65-global-businesses-ill-equipped-defend-email-based-cyber-attacks/)[ Phishing 9m 7 Ways to Protect Your Organization from Email-based Ransomware Attacks Feb 11, 2018 ](/blog/phishing-protection/7-ways-protect-organization-email-based-ransomware-attacks/) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/images/duocircle-logo.png"},"description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. 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