Many of us have realized in recent weeks that the communications IT infrastructure we once took for granted is now playing an important role in our daily lives, and an essential role in our new reality. We need reliable and secure connectivity to stay in touch with friends, family, and colleagues. We need it to stream videos and entertainment. We need it to surf the Internet, collaborate with colleagues, and access corporate servers.
About the author Steeve Huin, Vice President of Strategic Alliances, Business Development and Marketing, Irdeto. Of course, this has always been the case. However, what is different now, in our "new reality", is that more and more of us have to do all of the above while working from home. While businesses will have strong measures in place to defend their systems from cybersecurity attacks, most employees won't have the same levels of protection at home.
office computing
Similarly, in a typical office environment, you likely have a number of networked desktop computers, laptops, and perhaps smart video conferencing equipment, all of which will need to be cybersecurity-compliant for your business. Naturally, this configuration does not exist in the typical home. Many employees (as well as business leaders and IT managers themselves) will have laptops, smartphones, speakers, doorbells, lights, cameras, refrigerators, coffee makers, televisions, thermostats, and a growing number of other smart home devices connected to a network. . Unlike a corporate environment, these don't have to have the same defense mechanisms as desktop endpoints. The result? Employees, businesses, and all data stored on laptops and a corporate network are increasingly exposed to the threat of hacking and data breaches. The current period will be difficult for many businesses, but that shouldn't mean cybersecurity is being overlooked. So, with a significant number of us now working from home, and with this new reality likely to continue after a return to "business as usual," what are the cybersecurity threats we need to be aware of? How to fix it, and what kinds of technical and behavioral changes should business leaders and IT managers implement and encourage?
The top three threats to working from home
First, it wouldn't be surprising if the number of phishing attacks continued to rise significantly during the lockdown period, with hackers taking advantage of more people working from home. According to a recent report, there has been a 667% increase in phishing attacks since the end of February. The report identified 137 coronavirus-related phishing emails in January, 1,188 in February and more than 9,000 in March. Employees are more likely to open and process personal emails and visit non-professional websites during the day if they are not working from an office. Also, there could be an increase in the number of suspicious emails sent to their professional inboxes, since they can't verify them with their colleagues or run them through with IT staff. . It has also been reported that hackers are exploiting the pandemic for profit, creating fake charity websites and contacting victims posing as public health agencies. Second: we can expect an increase in the number of attacks launched directly over the Internet via misconfigured and insecure routers. Third: there will most likely be an increase in attacks executed through IoT-connected devices, such as those listed above. With more people at home during the day, more of these devices will be turned on and used, increasing the chances that hackers will exploit them as entry points into a network.
Hackers get to work
Typically, attackers using the above tactics hope to gain access to information such as personal financial information. However, there is now another motivating factor to launch attacks: the ability to acquire company data, when remote workers connect to corporate servers and access/share/download corporate information from home networks Businesses and consumers face financial damage significant for piracy. However, for companies, there is also the potential for massive effects for their customers and partners, as well as the company's reputation. Many businesses are already suffering significant losses as a result of the current pandemic, which means that maintaining the trust of customers – and your own customers – is more important than ever. However, there are ways around hacking; Protect home workers and secure networks and your business from cybersecurity threats. Investing now in education and cybersecurity solutions is therefore a good option to protect your business and staff in the long term.
A smart approach to smart devices
Many approaches to improving cybersecurity are simple, quick to implement, and best of all, completely free. Training your employees on security best practices or even short courses on cybersecurity training should be a first step for every business. Update your security policies to reflect the shift from office to task, and make sure they are clearly communicated to employees. Policies must include password settings on all IoT devices. Whether it's a connected driveway camera, a connected power outlet, or some other smart home device, most people leave these devices with default passwords that are easy to guess, leaving devices that are highly vulnerable. to large-scale attacks. Complex passwords: with more than eight characters, a combination of upper and lower case letters, special characters, etc. - are essential Employees must also keep the software and operating systems running on the devices they use within their home network. Updates are easy to ignore, but they are necessary for employees to protect themselves and keep their networks and corporate data protected from the ever-changing nature of cyber threats.
Good cleaning
Password management to protect IoT devices will only go a long way. As long as there are smart devices among employees, and as complex as passwords, there are endpoints on a network that can be exploited by hackers. In addition to ensuring that employees protect the devices themselves, businesses can also increase protection at the home network level. AI-based security solutions residing in home routers can help monitor and mitigate threats, ensuring vulnerable and even hacked devices are properly isolated. These can be quick and easy to set up and can work as add-on software to an existing Internet router or as an alternative Internet router. In addition to the cybersecurity benefits, these solutions can also provide employees with an overview of Wi-Fi management and help improve network connectivity, as well as options to apply parental controls to devices that children use. can access. Good cybersecurity will not materialize overnight. Starting a cybersecurity business requires good security practices from the start, plus a commitment to maintaining enough updates for all the devices your organization owns and manages. Business owners and IT managers now need to ensure that office cybersecurity practices extend to the task environment. With employee buy-in and easy-to-deploy solutions, business and home networks can be protected and cyber threats reduced.