When given the option, remote work has always been the preferred option for the majority of employees. However, it has increased in popularity and convenience over the last two years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As with any example setting, remote work has drawbacks.
With the advent of remote work, businesses began to observe a pattern among employees that had not before existed. They began to slack off on the cybersecurity front. As a result, experts implemented more stringent measures to safeguard the safety of employees and businesses.
1. Risk of Public Wi-Fi:
As a business, you’ve probably discouraged your staff from accessing public Wi-Fi, and they’re likely to follow suit. However, one of the benefits of remote employment is the remoteness itself. They might visit the portals using their office laptop while sipping a cappuccino.
While this may appear to be harmless at the moment, connecting to a public network exposes their SSID. An attacker can utilise this to create the appearance of a trustworthy network in order to gain access to their data.
Leaving Wi-Fi enabled while on the move also puts them in a vulnerable situation. Ransomware assaults are on the rise as a result of this single fundamental lapse in judgement by employees.
If an attacker is granted access to your employee’s device, malicious software can be put on it.
Engaging Multi-Layered Operations:
As a business, you’ve probably discouraged your staff from accessing public Wi-Fi, and they’re likely to follow suit. However, one of the benefits of remote employment is the remoteness itself. They might visit the portals using their office laptop while sipping a cappuccino.
While this may appear to be harmless at the moment, connecting to a public network exposes their SSID. An attacker can utilise this to create the appearance of a trustworthy network in order to gain access to their data.
Leaving Wi-Fi enabled while on the move also puts them in a vulnerable situation. Ransomware assaults are on the rise as a result of this single fundamental lapse in judgement by employees.
If an attacker is granted access to your employee’s device, malicious software can be put on it.
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2. Using Personal Devices:
The rise of remote labour has accomplished remarkable things. However, it was impossible to prohibit professionals from using personal devices to access their work. Which can be a good thing or a bad one depending on how you go about it.
Employees that are workaholics frequently use their personal gadgets to enhance their value. At the same time, they expose themselves to numerous cybersecurity threats as a result of their rash judgments.
According to a poll, 90% of businesses give access to their employees’ personal devices. The more devices connected to your network, the greater your vulnerability.
Personal gadgets are not always as secure as professional equipment. Due to the lack of regulations and constraints on the use of a work device, your workers run the danger of being cyber attacked.
Your employees’ mobile devices may be infected with malware, or they may be stolen. Each poor slope poses a threat to security.
Training Employees:
In most circumstances, a single thoughtless cybersecurity training session is insufficient. It has been demonstrated that personnel who do not receive adequate cybersecurity training likely to violate more rules. Those who have enough opportunities to educate themselves about hazards make fewer errors. Educating your staff about security concerns may be critical to protecting your organisation.
3. Physical Security Practices and Remote Work:
It would be a crime to ignore the possibility that some of your workers work from a cafe or shared workspace. In these types of environments, the fundamental human asset risks are always there.
Speaking loudly, leaving the device unlocked, overhearing OTPs, and leaking information all pose significant hazards to a company’s security.
Additionally, if they access the company domain using their personal devices, it is probable that
It could be stolen.
Install keyloggers and screen scrapers.
Attempts will be made to intercept user identification and passwords.
Raising Awareness:
Often, what appears to be common sense is not. Educating your employees on the dangers of unintended disclosure of their work should help secure the servers more effectively.
It’s fascinating how most attacks today rely on social engineering and can be carried out without technical expertise. Given access to personal data, a cyberattacker can act as an employee and acquire access.
4. Video Conferences:
Frontdesk prohibits strangers from entering the campus. Despite these safeguards, we’ve discovered recently that sabotage is rather widespread during video conferencing.
Employee data leaks, product briefings, and secret policies can be used to control or blackmail employees and businesses. As an employer, it is your responsibility to educate your staff on risk mitigation techniques.
Because the majority of video conferences are not encrypted end-to-end, you should be alright if you are not exchanging sensitive information during a Zoom session.
But… What if not a video conference? As critical as video conferences are, security precautions are in place to ensure their sanity. Sabotage Prevention:
- Password-protect each conference that you initiate via video conferencing apps. Distribute passwords only via secure channels.
- Admins must join first and grant access to everyone using their credentials.
- After everyone has arrived at the conference, close admission.
- Keep an eye out for meeting forwards and create alerts for them.
- Share no files in the chat. Due to the fact that the conferences are not properly encrypted, transferring files may pose security problems.
- Prevent recordings from occurring. Encourage staff to take notes or to get emails summarising each session.
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5. Remote Work, Encryption, and Cybersecurity:
Encryption ensures that only authorized parties gain access to shared data. Employees who work remotely frequently share professional files on their personal devices. This mitigates the company’s encryption policy.
Although it is quite improbable that an attacker will be able to quickly breach the VPN server. However, it is not uncommon for them to gain access to the devices your staff use to hack the systems.
The Bottom Line
When allowing employees to work remotely, you must remain innovative and accommodating. While remote work continues to be the most desired job need, it is not without drawbacks.
To begin, staff should refrain from accessing public Wi-Fi or personal devices. Second, they should keep in mind not to share sensitive data via public channels. Strictly enforce your policies and thoroughly educate your personnel to make the most out of the scenario.
