Hybrid working has quickly become the norm, especially for small businesses. It offers flexibility, keeps employees happy, and often reduces overhead costs. But while the setup looks great on paper, it introduces a range of IT risks that don’t always get flagged until something goes wrong.

In our experience supporting businesses across Bristol, we’ve seen that many of these risks aren’t dramatic security breaches with instant changes, they’re small, recurring gaps that quietly expose your business to data loss, inefficiency, or compliance issues.

Here are a few that are often missed, along with advice you can act on today.

Home Networks Are Now Part of Your Business Infrastructure

When your team works from home, their internet connection becomes an entry point to your business. Unlike your office network, most home routers haven’t had a firmware update in years. Weak passwords, open ports, and default admin settings are all common.

According to the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), home routers are a key target for cybercriminals looking to intercept business data or install malware.
Quick win: Ask staff to change default router passwords and apply firmware updates. It takes 10 minutes but significantly reduces exposure.

Shadow IT Is Still a Problem

Staff working from home are more likely to use personal devices, cloud apps, or email work files to themselves just to get things done. This kind of “shadow IT” creates real risk as there is no encryption, no visibility, and no backup.

We’ve seen a Bristol firm with a key client contract stored on a personal laptop. When the device failed, the document was gone. No backups, no recovery.

What to do: Introduce simple device policies and enable cloud sync (like OneDrive for Business) to keep data centralised and protected.

File Sprawl Creates Compliance Gaps

Hybrid working leads to file sprawl. Documents live in desktops, inboxes, downloads folders or even sometimes across five or six devices per person. That makes GDPR compliance harder, especially when clients request access or deletion of their data.

Advice: Set up file retention policies and use Microsoft 365 compliance tools (like sensitivity labels or data lifecycle policies) to reduce the risk of accidental exposure or non-compliance.

How Three Cherries Can Help

At Three Cherries, we see cybersecurity as one of the most fundamental building blocks to a successful business. With many businesses picking up hybrid working and seeing it almost as a trend, its vital that the correct measures are applied to ensure a secure environment. If your business needs any help creating a secure setup, contact us today. We take the gamble out of business technology.