Engenharia Social no home office: análise comparativa da percepção de vulnerabilidades de ataques de phishing entre servidores remotos e presenciais do Instituto Federal do Piauí

Abstract

Information security is fundamental to the sustainability and governance of public organizations. The abrupt migration to remote work expanded the cyber attack surface, displacing employees from traditional corporate defense perimeters. Grounded on the premise that the human factor is the weakest link, often exploited via social engineering and phishing , this study comparatively analyzed the risk perception and preventive behavior between on-site (n=74) and remote/hybrid (n=155) public servants at the Federal Institute of Piauí (IFPI). Methodologically, a descriptive-comparative survey was conducted (N=229). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney, Chi-square), and Student's t-test. Empirical results refuted the hypotheses that remote environments amplify practical vulnerability or inhibit informal social validation : both groups showed high and homogeneous hit rates (>96%) in simulated behavioral scenarios (Rectorate, HR, and IT). However, a statistically significant difference was found in behaviors related to public Wi-Fi usage (p<0.05), reflecting higher factual exposure among remote workers. The diagnostic also revealed a scenario of chronic lack of training, affecting 87.8% of the sample homogeneously across both work regimes. In conclusion, the observed resilience stems from an intuitive defensive stance rather than formal digital maturity, highlighting the urgent need for continuous Security Awareness programs tailored to workforce mobility.