In today’s era of remote and hybrid work, the cybersecurity perimeter has expanded far beyond office walls. Home networks, personal devices, and even family members now play a role in an organization’s security posture. Cybercriminals have noticed this shift and increasingly exploit vulnerabilities in employees’ home environments as a backdoor into company systems. When employees work from home, they often share internet connections and even devices with spouses, children, or housemates, blurring the line between corporate and personal life. This blending of work and home life means that a mistake by a family member online can inadvertently put company data at risk.
Consider a typical household: a parent’s work laptop might double as the family computer, or a spouse could use a company-issued tablet to quickly check email. These innocent actions can introduce serious risks. A recent Cisco study found 85% of working parents have shared a device used for work with their children, and nearly half of those allowed kids to use it unsupervised. A curious teenager clicking a suspicious link on mom or dad’s work laptop could inadvertently unleash malware or leak sensitive data. Cybersecurity can no longer be confined to the office; it must extend to living rooms and kitchen tables as well.
One of the biggest risks of blending work and home life is the sharing of devices and internet connections. Many remote employees use their work laptops for personal tasks or let family members use their work tech for convenience. This kind of sharing might seem harmless, after all, it’s still within the family, but it can create hidden vulnerabilities. Children or other family members may accidentally download malware, visit unsafe websites, or click phishing links on a shared device. Even if they are careful, any access by an unauthorized person to a work device or VPN can technically constitute a security breach.
Home Wi-Fi networks themselves can be a weak link. Unlike enterprise networks, home routers often have default settings, weak passwords, or outdated firmware. If a cybercriminal manages to compromise a home network (for instance, by guessing a Wi-Fi password or exploiting an unpatched router), they could potentially snoop on traffic or attack devices on that network. That puts work devices and data at risk. It becomes even more problematic if an employee’s work laptop is not segregated (e.g., via a guest network).
Furthermore, personal devices used for work tasks (or vice versa) increase risk. A spouse’s unsecured personal laptop might be used to check a work email in a pinch, or an employee might print a work document using a home printer that the whole family uses. These scenarios bypass the company’s usual security controls. Files could be saved on unencrypted personal devices or sensitive information might be left accessible on a computer that others share. In short, when devices and networks are shared freely at home, the organization’s data can end up only as secure as the least careful family member. It’s a sobering reality that calls for clear guidelines and precautions.
Beyond accidental risks, there is a more sinister aspect to consider: attackers may actively target an employee’s family members as a way to compromise the company. Sophisticated cybercriminals realize that while employees might be trained to spot phishing emails or suspicious calls, their spouses, kids, or elderly parents likely are not. This opens a backdoor for social engineering. For example, a hacker might send a convincing message to an employee’s partner or pretend to be a tech support person on a call with an employee’s teen, hoping to glean information or install malware that eventually leads to the company network.
In one case, a malicious actor targeted the family of a senior executive at a utility company. Through social media, the attacker befriended the executive’s teenage daughter and gleaned personal tidbits (pet names, birthdays, vacation details) that turned out to be answers to security questions on her parents’ accounts. The hacker then hijacked the daughter’s social media and sent a malware-laced link to her father, posing as if it came from his child. When the executive clicked the link, it quietly installed a keylogger on his home computer. With that foothold, the attacker spied on the executive’s activities and eventually used his credentials to penetrate the corporate network, leading to a serious breach months later. All because an unsuspecting family member was exploited as the entry point.
This example may sound like an extreme case, but lesser versions happen regularly. Phishing scams might target an employee’s spouse with an email that looks like a bank alert, hoping to harvest credentials that could overlap with work accounts. Or a teenager might receive a fake scholarship application that installs spyware on the family PC. If that PC is also used for remote work or has cached work passwords, it’s game over. **All these scenarios underscore that family members are part of the threat landscape. They need to be aware that their online actions could have workplace consequences.
Given these risks, it’s clear that we can’t confine security awareness to employees alone. If employees practice good cyber hygiene but their families do not, it leaves a gap that attackers can exploit. Family members don’t go through the company’s cybersecurity training or sign its IT policies, yet their actions can directly impact the organization. As one cybersecurity expert put it, “Families don’t receive cybersecurity onboarding, unlike staff members,” yet they are increasingly on the front lines of digital threats. In fact, chief information security officers (CISOs) are waking up to this reality. Many are becoming conscious of the “growing attack surface” posed by home networks and family usage, but most companies still lack formal plans to extend security awareness into employees’ home lives.
Ignoring the family factor is risky business. A significant portion of breaches originates from human error, and that human might not always be the employee; it could be a family member. A study on high-net-worth family offices found that security breaches often result from mistakes by someone connected to the organization, including family members, and that many of these incidents could be prevented through better education on digital hygiene. Simply put, teaching safe online habits shouldn’t stop at the office door. Whether it’s recognizing phishing attempts, using strong passwords, or being cautious on social media, these are skills that every member of an employee’s household should have.
Furthermore, involving families in cybersecurity fosters a culture of openness and trust. If an employee knows their organization encourages a holistic approach to security, they’ll be more likely to report if something happens at home, say, their spouse’s email was hacked or a strange pop-up appeared on the family computer, without fear of embarrassment. As one security consultancy advised, companies should “consider adding family awareness and self-reporting of security incidents… as part of the annual security awareness program”. In an age where work and home are intertwined, this makes good sense.
How can organizations actually bring cybersecurity into the home in practical terms? It’s not feasible (nor appropriate) to directly “train” an employee’s family in the same way we train employees. However, there are several strategies that forward-thinking companies and leaders are adopting to engage families and strengthen the human firewall beyond the workplace:
By implementing these strategies, organizations build an extended human firewall that encompasses employees’ families. It’s about creating a partnership: the company provides the knowledge and tools, and the employee acts as a bridge, bringing cybersecurity best practices into their household. HR professionals and business leaders can collaborate with CISOs on this front, for example, including a “family cyber safety” segment in wellness programs or new-hire orientation packets. Little steps like these can significantly raise the overall security awareness in an employee’s personal circle.
In an age when work and home life are tightly interwoven, cybersecurity can no longer stop at the office door. Organizations that truly want to bolster their defenses must recognize that an employee’s family is an integral part of the security ecosystem. This doesn’t mean turning our homes into high-security fortresses or expecting family members to become cybersecurity experts. It means empowering them with awareness, the basic knowledge of online risks and safe behaviors, so that they become allies in protection rather than unknowing vulnerabilities.
For business owners, HR leaders, and CISOs, this perspective shift is crucial. Security awareness must be holistic: every person who has a hand in an employee’s digital life should understand the role they play in keeping data safe. When employees and their loved ones jointly practice good cyber hygiene, the odds of a security incident, whether at work or at home, diminish. And if something does go wrong, a family that’s aware will respond more quickly and appropriately, minimizing damage.
Ultimately, “bringing cybersecurity home” is about extending the same culture of vigilance and responsibility that we foster at work into our personal spheres. It’s a collective effort. Companies can provide the guidance and tools, and employees can make cybersecurity a family value. By doing so, we create a united front against cyber threats, ensuring that whether one is in the office or the living room, they are surrounded by a web of informed, alert individuals. In cybersecurity, the weakest link often defines the strength of the whole chain. By including our families in the conversation, we make that chain unbreakable.
Sharing work devices with family members increases the risk of malware, phishing, and unauthorized access. Even innocent actions, like a child clicking on a suspicious link, can expose sensitive company data.
Attackers may use social engineering tactics, such as phishing emails or fake tech support calls, targeting spouses or children to gain access to corporate networks. They exploit less-trained individuals in an employee’s household as entry points.
Because remote work blends personal and professional environments, an unaware family member can unintentionally cause a security breach. Promoting cyber hygiene within the home reduces this risk.
Organizations can distribute family-friendly resources, share real-world incident stories, provide security perks like antivirus discounts, and encourage open communication about security issues at home.
Not directly in formal training, but they should be included through simplified educational materials and encouraged to secure behaviors. Involving families fosters a culture of awareness and enhances organizational protection.