Is Your Remote Work Infrastructure Secure?

Is Your Remote Work Infrastructure Secure

The pandemic situation has driven radical change in businesses. It has compelled enterprises to adapt to new working models rapidly. The transition from a physical office to working-from-home is one of them. Even before COVID-19, 43% of companies in the United States had agreed to employ some workers from home for their business’s benefit. Meanwhile, companies bump into one larger question: how to rest assure security with remote working infrastructure? Along the same lines, let’s see a few measures that will help you understand whether your remote work infrastructure is secure or not.

 

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Ensuring Endpoint Protection for Remote Workers

The offices maintain consoles and possess the ability to manage all workstations. Conversely, the same control level is usually missing for remote computers that workstations at the physical office have.

Computers that use Windows 10 has Windows Defender to fight against viruses. It is more than enough for a remote machine as far as antivirus tool is concerned. On the other hand, Macintosh devices should have endpoint protection software since Shlayer Trojan makes one in ten Mac users its victim.

It is pertinent to have a policy in place to have all remote machines use an antivirus tool. A company can set alternative cloud-based means to monitor workstations. Also, consider reviewing necessary console tools and licenses to access computers outside of your domain. For example, tools like Splashtop SOS or LogmeinRescue can get the IT support team to access remote devices.

Gauging Risk Factor of Remote Access

It is not a smart choice to open remote access ports without realizing the risks associated with it. In extreme scenarios, it can result in disastrous consequences. Thus, it is necessary to ensure the firewall gets configured to respond to specific static IP addresses when you have to open remote access.

Implementing Multifactor Authentication (MFA)

MFA technology is a great way to identify the user attempting to gain access to files and apps. It includes an extra layer of security. Apart from login credentials, it asks for a one-time password (OPT) or fingerprint identification to allow the user to gain access.

MFA technology makes it difficult for a cybercriminal to access your system even when he gets hold of the login credentials. It is the case because a cybercriminal cannot have other supplementary authentication requirements as well.

Choosing a Secure VPN (virtual private network)

Ensuring remote infrastructure is safe requires a secure virtual private network. A VPN allows the user to connect its device to a remote server without disclosing the user’s location. Instead of its device, it will make it as if the user is surfing disparate webpages from the given network.

When all employees use a virtual private network, it makes it seem like all internet-related activities are emanating from your office’s server. As a result, the distinction between an employee working either from home or office gets chucked out. It makes it seem like all employees are working from the physical location of the office. Moreover, VPN turns all data running on applications encrypted.

Keeping Up Your Data Loss Prevention Controls

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is necessary since it prevents data breaches and unwanted waste of sensitive data. Organizations use DLP to preserve and protect their data while complying with regulations. It is, however, essential to ensure endpoint DLP solutions are appropriate for remote working at scale.

Using Mobile Device Management (MDM) Solutions

Remote-working employees use mobile devices, which may include laptops, smartphones, etc. So, it could be that these devices are stolen or fall into the wrong hands. In this case, MDM solutions must get used to encrypt those devices and lock or delete sensitive information at your discretion.

Keeping Your Employees Aware of Threats

Ever since the pandemic surfaced, bad guys are busy exploiting the situation by employing tailored phishing campaigns. While these campaigns aim to target financial assets, cybercriminals often hit them indirectly by conning employees. They gather account credentials from employees through phishing campaigns.

It is necessary to rest assure your employees get updated with the latest methods of cyber exploitation. For this, you need to ensure a mechanism to push the updates coming from reliable threat intelligence sources to your employees. Moreover, promote the habit among your employees to report suspicious emails to avoid facing the music.

Conclusion

The situation arisen from the pandemic that erupted at the end of 2019 has led to remote work solutions. Thankfully, the vaccination drive has begun already, and thus we can expect that things will turn normal soon. Yet, some form of remote work is going to stay for sure for some time. Get Cybersecurity Advisory 24/7 to cement your cybersecurity to the next level.

 

 

References

Cybersecurity concerns triggered by remote work

Some critical considerations for shielding remote workers

Here is how you can scale security for remote working?

Here is how companies ensure security while working remotely