Misusing Company Tech: Study Reveals Alarming Trends in Workplace Tech Habits

The modern workplace’s shift to remote and hybrid work has created one unique challenge for employers and their cybersecurity teams: how can we make sure employees are using their company-issued tech as intended? And what happens when company-issued technology is treated as a personal machine?

The risk is twofold: Company data is less secure when it’s mixed with the personal lives of employees, and not physically being in office gives employers less opportunity to oversee productivity and device use than ever before.

To discover how many employees are misusing company tech, our team at All About Cookies surveyed 1,000 workers and asked them about their behaviors on company-issued devices.

Key findings

• 1 in 3 employees admit to using company tech to apply for jobs, interview, or do work for other companies while on the clock. 36% said they use company tech to work on side hustles to make extra money.
• 47% of employees report streaming movies or TV shows on their company-issued devices, including 27% who do so on a weekly basis.
• 22% report using company-issued devices to view inappropriate or adult websites.
• More than 1 in 5 admit to sending company intellectual property (IP) or other materials to a personal device weekly.

Employees are using company-issued tech to do work for themselves (and others)

When it comes to unauthorized use of company tech, using your device to make money for someone else is roughly the equivalent of cheating on your partner. According to more than 1 in 3 workers, however, this is a reality.

36% of employees we surveyed admitted to using company-issued technology to work on a side hustle, while exactly 1 in 3 (33%) said they’ve used a company device to apply for other jobs. Taking it a step further, 29% said they’ve interviewed for other jobs using company technology, while 22%, nearly 1 in 4, said they’ve used one company’s devices to actually work for another company.

Staying entertained on the clock

The cat-and-mouse game between employers wanting full-time engagement vs. employees who want to slack off is nothing new, but according to employees, the modern workplace has made it much more of a one-sided battle. We asked employees about a series of productivity-wasters to find out how many are doing them on company tech (and time).

The most common ways employees stay unproductive on company time include browsing social media (62%), online shopping (62%), and messaging coworkers and personal friends (60% and 59%, respectively).

While the majority of workers admit to using their company-issued tech to stay connected to others, some are using it for more egregious entertainment reasons. Nearly half of respondents (47%) said they’ve used company tech to stream TV shows or movies, while 38% admit to using company technology to play video games.

Not keeping up with maintenance

Whether it’s repeating passwords or accessing unsafe public Wi-Fi networks, it’s not exactly a secret that most internet users ignore best cybersecurity practices for ease. But on company tech, the consequences can be even more disastrous.

According to respondents, many workers are willing to put the physical and cyber security of their company-issued devices at risk regularly.

8 out of 10 workers (81%) said they regularly eat and drink near company devices. This isn’t always against company policy, but does add some risk to device health. Similarly, 33% (1 in 3) of workers said they have dropped or damaged their work-issued laptop or smartphone.

Beyond physical health, employees admitted to practicing unsafe cyber habits. 39% of workers said they don’t regularly keep software up to date on their company-issued tech, while 21% (more than 1 in 5) admitted they’ve downloaded unauthorized software to their work computers.

The most serious offenses

While any unauthorized use is unadvised, we also realize some segments of employees will treat their work-issued tech like personal devices, which means their personal browsing behavior might follow.

When it comes to adult websites, a whopping 22% of employees admitted to viewing inappropriate or adult websites on company devices. This represents more than 1 in 4 workers.

As far as other fireable offenses go, we also asked respondents about their handling of intellectual property. Stunningly, 21% (over 1 in 5) of employees admitted to transferring company intellectual property to personal devices. While the practice isn’t always nefarious, it does pose significant and critical security vulnerabilities to company property.

Bottom line

On top of having workplace repercussions, misusing your company tech can also lead to major online privacy issues. Here are a few key ways to keep your information secure.

• Use a password manager for all your work accounts. If you're currently trying to memorize all your passwords, or worse, re-using the same one, try switching to one of the best password managers to create extra strong passwords that autofill for you.
• Monitor and update your online settings. Certain apps and websites — such as your personal social media accounts — could share your data. Make sure to monitor and update your privacy settings often.
• Download company-approved antivirus software. If you know you’ll be accessing websites for personal use, make sure you have trustworthy antivirus software installed on your company device, so long as it's approved.

Methodology

To compile the data shown above, our research team at All About Cookies surveyed 1,000 people about their company-issued technology. Answer choices were randomized and respondents were given the option to opt-out of any questions they didn’t want to admit to. The survey was completed in Spring 2025.