Impact Of Remote Work: New Threats And Solutions

Today COVID-19 has transformed how companies work; with staff working remotely, organizations are looking to adopt the new working style.

As there are many benefits of remote working, the biggest threat posed by work from home is cybersecurity problems.

According to Economic Times, India sees an 845% increase in cyberattacks in 2021. The figures are alarming and concerning as many businesses face cybersecurity threats like networking challenges, data protection, identity fraud, breaches, etc.

Corporate data is at higher risk while working at home. Cyber threat hunting services for businesses are essential as they provide threat hunting solutions that safeguard your company’s sensitive and confidential information and keep it away from the risk of being exploited by unethical hackers.

Your innocent remote employees may be unknowingly getting in the hands of the fraudsters and put the company’s data at a greater risk. Keep on reading to know about the possible threats remote working can pose to your organization and how you can overcome these risks.

Vulnerable Network Connections:

Unsafe networks are significant cybersecurity problems because remote employees use unsecured internet connections with weak security layers. The employees access the organization’s data from their unsecured internet and hackers will peg this moment to maliciously spy and steal the data.

Phishing Attacks:

The remote employees can follow the worst cybersecurity practices and can end up in the hands of hackers who keep an eagle eye on the company’s sensitive data.

Phishing attacks happen when a malicious person or organization tries to be a legitimate source and attacks the victim through an email or link. They entice the person to give in their personal information, which later on they use to login into accounts later.

These phishing emails and messages have become so legitimate and sophisticated that it has become challenging for blameless employers to suspect them.

Easy To Guess Passwords:

You can provide your workforce with the best cybersecurity software, but what about the human error that will do. Employees will safeguard their accounts with weak passwords.

Hackers are ingenious as they know it is easier to exploit this human error as it becomes easier to get into the accounts of this security software. Like this, they can crack in their way to access the company information.

Cybercriminals know their way when it comes to cracking passwords and exploiting innocent people. First, they will compile the list of common passwords and then design a code to crack the password. Repeating passwords is also one of the common mistakes because then it just takes one password for the hackers to access all the accounts.

Sharing Files:

Colleagues share files almost daily, from sharing client’s account details to other sensitive information that the company cannot risk.

Companies focus on encrypting the saved data, but what about the data that is in transit?

If this data gets intercepted by the fraudsters, hell may get loose and can lead to identity fraud, severe ransomware attacks, and much more.

How To Combat Cyberattacks While Working At Home?

To secure the cybersecurity landscape of the organization while working remotely, employees and organizations can practice the following steps:

1. Set some ground rules: Setting efficient ground rules can eliminate the chances of cybersecurity attacks by 70-75%. You must tell your employees about the cyber attacks and how they can stay away from them, what type of information should be shared and what kind of emails should be accessed.
2. Go for encrypted tools: Encryption is the key when it comes to safe communication. It would be best if you used fully encrypted tools to avoid the loss of any sensitive information.
3. Use Secure VPN: Now, as you will be working from the comfort of your home and outside your company, make sure that you work with a secure connection. Poor connections can invite hackers and let them thrive. The best way to work with a secure connection is to use a secure VPN (Virtual Private Network). It works effectively to protect the traffic that will come from your office or go from your laptop to your office. Most companies provide this service; if your company does, make sure to get it.
4. Tell your team to create strong passwords: Tell your team to create strong passwords that are hard to crack. Hackers can easily decrypt the easy passwords and use sensitive information to pose a threat to the organization. Companies can also arrange virtual training to educate the employees about setting passwords and keeping the data safe.
5. Assessing the hot spots: As employees work from home, leaders have to address the gaps and knock down the hot spots for cyberattacks. To maintain digital hygiene, companies have to patch the gaps by assessing the hot spots of cyberattacks and spreading awareness about the workforce.
6. Fixing the patches: Earlier during the pandemic, when companies were not aware of the hackers, it was acceptable that the companies had to suffer. But this time, let’s not repeat the mistakes made in the previous year. Fix the patches where you think change is needed. If you cannot find the patches, hire a cyber threat hunting company as they see the patches for you and provide suitable threat hunting solutions as per your organization’s needs.
7. Fortify the data authentication: As employees standardize remote working, make sure to authenticate sensitive data. You can introduce biometric authentication or accelerate AI-based fraud detection. AI-based fraud detection platforms work 24*7; therefore, when your data will be protected while you are sleeping. Various companies are moving to AI-based fraud detection platforms to ensure they are safe around the clock. They can be on the pricier side, but you will always be protected around the clock if you look at the silver lining.

The Bottom Line:

COVID-19 has dramatically changed business and customer-related trends and has changed how the IT team manages cybersecurity threats. Work from home is a new normal, and cybersecurity leaders have to protect their organizations at a larger scale and make them an integral cog of the business.