Cyber Security Tips to Secure Remote Working

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, many organisations have had to make a swift transition to remote working to ensure business continuity. What would typically take months of planning and preparation was implemented in a matter of days. The chaos that this created, combined with the already uncertain nature of life during a pandemic, had created the ideal environment for cybercriminals.

On the whole, bad actors are not employing novel techniques. Rather, they’re leveraging people’s confusion and inattention to run familiar attacks such as phishing. According to Barracuda Networks, there has been a 667% increase in malicious phishing emails since the coronavirus outbreak. Moreover, Google has shared that it is blocking an average of 18 million coronavirus scam emails every day. With the workforce now being more susceptible to attack, the risks are ever higher for organisations. As the saying goes, you’re only as strong as your weakest link.

To make things worse, remote working is new territory for many businesses, calling for a completely different security strategy and significant adjustment. While IT teams are distracted with implementation, they may not have the resources to thoroughly monitor suspicious activity or apply security patches to newly administered technologies. This could leave an organisation’s internal infrastructure and network vulnerable to an employee’s compromised device. You’re also reliant on the security of something you have no control over, namely the employee’s home network. This will likely be riddled with IoT devices, tablets, laptops, phones and poorly secured home routers.

Bulletproof recently ran a webinar all about securing remote working environments, which is free to view here:

In order to help you navigate through this challenging landscape, here are answers to the most common questions we get asked.

When transitioning to an unfamiliar environment of mass remote working, the first step for any organisation is to evaluate your current security posture. It is important to understand where the risks lie, what policies and procedures might need adjusting, and what technologies exist that could be of use.

Additionally, organisations should question whether their employees are prepared to identify threats, and know how to manage or prevent them. The next steps require you to actively address any vulnerable areas:

• Securing your cloud platform with the use of VPNs, conditional login settings as well as segmenting the network.

• Auditing your workforce, including monitoring how they use their systems and what they do. This will identify suspicious activity both on the server as well as the cloud.

• Defining a minimum standard of security for the devices your employees use and ensure best practices are adhered to. For example, that all laptops employ an updated antivirus software.

• Continuing to test systems as usual for vulnerabilities and apply any necessary patches.

• Frequent refresher training sessions, covering both security essentials as well as data protection responsibilities.