Work conditions have changed in the last few years since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote work has become a necessity for most organizations. According to the latest research projections, 25% of all professional jobs will be remote in North America by the end of 2022.
The benefits of remote have allowed this work mode to be maintained as lockdowns and other pandemic measures ease. The benefits include increased employee productivity and decreased office costs. However, remote working imposes additional security threats to an organization’s business continuity and data integrity.
This article discusses the challenges of working remotely and the remote work security best practices you can implement.
Work From Home Security Challenges
Hackers can expose threats on remote work computers more than on-premises ones. Many factors allow the hackers to exploit remote user sessions and eventually the internal work network.
Here you can find the top factors that enable a cyberattack while working remotely:
- Unsecured network: Remote employees’ network security might affect the internal network security. Connecting to the internal network remotely using unsecured networks like public Wi-Fi imposes additional security threats like man-in-the-middle attacks. Hackers can then listen secretly to the connection to steal information. They can also impersonate the remote endpoint stealthily and send custom messages to attack the server.
- Unsecured devices: Hackers can easily penetrate personal devices that lack protection software like antivirus or anti-malware. Computer viruses and malware are spreading on the internet. When unsecured devices connect to the internet, viruses or malware can directly attack them.
Devices that don't have up-to-date virus signature definitions are also vulnerable to attacks. Protection software uses the virus definitions to identify new viruses and protect against them. Missing a protection software enables scammers to attack the device when the user clicks a link in a spam email. Hackers can attack the corporate network using an unsecured device. They can also steal work-related sensitive data from a victim’s unsecured device.
Source: https://www.remote.tools/remote-work-community/how-to-maintain-security-when-employees-work-remotely
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