The Cyber Security Challenges Of Working From Anywhere

Remote working may have ushered in a flexible and more favorable working experience for a lot of employees. However, this advantage is not without its share of limitations and risks. During the pandemic, the transition to remote working coincided with a major increase in cybersecurity incidents, as thieves sought to exploit both the epidemic’s stress and disruption, and the increase in “attack surfaces” are available for the target.

One of the numerous challenges that organizations will have to face as they prepare for life after a pandemic is the cyber security hazards of remote working. Employees who work remotely rely on their home networks and often their own devices to execute tasks, which poses a number of risks. And you’d better hope they’re tech-savvy because your IT department will only be able to help them so much if they run into issues.

As per the market research report 2021 by Velocity Smart Technology, 70 percent of remote workers reported IT issues during the pandemic, with 54 percent having to wait up to three hours for a solution.

Nonetheless, remote working is here to stay, for better or worse, since the perks are simply too enticing. According to a Gartner survey, 47 percent of companies will allow employees to work remotely full-time once the epidemic is over, and 82 percent will allow employees to work from home at least once a week.

If you’re one of the companies that offer this option to employees, you should evaluate whether your remote working policies are appropriate. Remaining more up-to-date and prepared to ward off any cyber security threat is the only solution. Your organizations may have escaped the blow of cyber attacks all these times. But that does not guarantee you are safe in the future. Below we have mentioned some limitations and the cyber security challenges of working from anywhere, you should keep in mind these factors.

Let Us Understand a Few Of The Limitations And Challenges That Remote Working May Come To Lock Horns With

Here we have discussed to understand a few limitations and challenges that remote working may come to luck horns with:

Amplified Cyber Security Threats With Remote Working 

Without the security precautions that office systems provide – such as firewalls and banned IP addresses – and greater reliance on technology, we are even more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. The significant matter of concern is the majority of work is performed online. After all, if it’s on the Internet, there’s always the risk of it being hacked by a cyber-criminal. Cloud documents, emails and attachments, instant messaging clients, and third-party services are all vulnerable, and with so much data being shared digitally, your attack surface has risen significantly.

Following the CISO Benchmark Report 2020, businesses are having trouble controlling remote workers’ use of phones and other mobile devices.

Many employees use two-factor authentication on their own devices, and they may have mobile app versions of IM clients like Teams and Zoom. Because of the blurring barriers between personal and professional life, sensitive information is more likely to fall into an insecure environment.

Often IT teams of Organizations have no way of protecting you from this, which is generating enormous headaches. According to the CISCO report, mobile devices pose a significant problem in terms of cyber security for 52 percent of respondents.

More Phishing Cases:

The risk of attackers encountering phishing emails is another danger that remote workers face. These are phishing scams that attempt to trick you into passing over your personal information or downloading a harmful attachment containing a key logger. The perils of phishing should be a major priority at any time, but things are extremely dangerous during the coronavirus outbreak.

According to a recent survey, there has been a 600 percent spike in reported phishing emails since the end of February 2021, with many of them capitalizing on the pandemic’s uncertainty.

To mitigate this danger, all work should be done on a business laptop that is protected by remote access security restrictions. At the very least, this should feature two-factor authentication, which reduces the possibility of a thief gaining access to an employee’s account. This guarantees that the appropriate tools, like anti-malware software and up-to-date programs, are in place to protect against any threats.

It also offers your IT team control over the IT infrastructure of the company and lets them keep an eye on any dangerous behavior, such as malware and unauthorized logins. The mantra is to always be vigilant as no organization is immune to cyber threats and malware. For which Cyber Security training certification has become essentially unavoidable and even more urgent.

Tendency To Make Mistakes Caused By Exertion

It may often happen that employees are overcome by the workload compared to working from the office. Employees may also be faced with the depletion of not just energy but of motivation, energy, and vibe post-lunch, etc. According to research by the Society of Human Resources Management, 35% of employees said they were fatigued or had little energy while working from home.

Similarly, half of UK workers expressed a loss of motivation while working remotely in the Velocity Smart Technology Market Research Report 2021. This should be a huge concern for businesses since fatigued or unmotivated staffs are more likely to make careless mistakes, whether in the quality of their job or in making a poor judgment that jeopardizes the security of important data.

The nature of remote working contributes to two of the contributing variables. Employees are more prone to be distracted, for starters. This is especially true if they have spouses or children at home, but it could also be as basic as remembering to do the dishes or laundry. By diverting your attention away from your work, you become less aware of minor details. Perhaps you’ll send an email to the wrong person or file a private document in haste.

The second problem is that, despite being distracted, remote workers may end up working more hours.

According to a survey conducted by the Office of National Statistics, remote employees work five hours per week more on average than those who work in an office. They also put in an average of six hours of unpaid overtime per week, against 3.6 hours for those who never work from home.

This is most likely the outcome of home workers either overcompensating for the flexibility they have or succumbing to the temptation to work a few extra hours in their spare time due to the workplace’s accessibility. As laudable as putting in those additional hours is, it makes you more vulnerable to errors. It’s all too simple to make one critical error after a long, productive day. It could be as simple as storing a document in the incorrect spot or failing to correctly configure the database you’ve been working on. Whatever task you’re working on, you must devote your full attention.

The Rise In Cyber-attacks Keeps IT Departments Occupied.

Given the growth of poorly secured gadgets in employee homes, what threats are keeping IT teams awake at night? There is a spike in ransomware, firmware assaults, and exploitation of publicly reported unpatched vulnerabilities, data leaking, and “man-in-the-middle” attacks.

Aside from all of these pertinent factors, remote working also results in diminishing Professional and personal boundary

Solutions To Secure Safe Work Environment For Remote Working

What can be done to improve the situation now that working from home appears to be the new normal? How to contain the risk and provide a smooth and safe working environment to your employees and staff regardless of the location of their operation.

To manage the dangers, any company with employees who work from home should establish a remote working policy. There are numerous remote working policy templates available with various providers. Such templates come with instructions on securely storing devices, maintaining and using strong log-in details like passwords, 2-factor authentication, and certain other usage policy for website visits that are outside of work premises. 

Organizations should also explain how employees can comply with the technical solutions they’ve adopted to protect sensitive data. A strong recommendation is using two-factor authentication with any third-party service you use, for example. Your remote working policy should handle the hazards that come with employees handling sensitive information in public places, even if it isn’t a problem during the lockdown. When work resumes, for example, employees may utilize company equipment in public venues like trains and cafés, where opportunistic cyber thieves might lurk without drawing attention to themselves.

Even if there isn’t a malevolent actor, security issues are likely to occur. Consider how frequently you hear about employees misplacing a laptop, USB drive, or important documents.

Also Read: Secure Your Smart Home Devices

Prioritize On Securing Organizations’ Staff Regardless Of Their Location

You must handle your employees’ security threats whether they are working in the office, at home, in shared workspaces, or elsewhere. Because of the challenges in organizing staff while adhering to lockdown constraints, regulators such as the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) have been lenient with suspected data protection violations during the epidemic. However, given that most countries are returning to normalcy, it’s critical that you don’t get caught off guard. 

Ensuring that all devices are adequately patched with the most recent software updates, and offering secure practices training to staff, particularly in detecting the types of phishing assaults that continue to make up the majority of cyber attacks today.

VPNs -Virtual private networks are also frequently used to provide secure remote access between workers and their private corporate network. While VPNs can be quite useful, they can also pose a number of hazards, particularly if the network is not properly configured.

Anti-malware software should be installed. Another simple action to take is to make sure that, in addition to conventional anti-virus software, malware protection software is installed and used. Not only can this program protect you from assaults, but it can also tell you when one is being attempted.

Data should be kept safe. All of the aforementioned actions can help preserve critical corporate data, but it’s also critical for businesses to have a strong awareness of the data they have, as well as its relative sensitivity and relevance. Furthermore, this is frequently enforced by rules such as GDPR, and it underpins a risk-based approach to data governance.

Take advantage of the cyber security training course available easily nowadays. Numerous academic institutions and training agencies now offer cyber security training online which makes it even more convenient for those already working to take up training. 

Given the intensity of the cyber crimes, employers are also more bent on hiring professionals who have cyber security training certification to empower their organizations. Certification validates the employees’ strength and employability which is why acquiring cyber security training certification by any aspiring cyber security practitioner is a necessity.  

ajayb