New collaborative tools have been implemented in record numbers this year, the main ones adopted are Zoom and MS Teams – but there are many more out there that may allow employees to perform and meet the expectations of clients/colleagues alike. Companies do not want to hamper the creative abilities of their remote workforce but given the surge in coronavirus-related cyber attacks in the last few months, a more proactive investigation into how the remote teams access corporate platforms is required.
Many CISOs are in the process of auditing software applications alongside the various IT divisions for the digital transformation. The pressures to meet the needs of the endpoint to perform their roles unfortunately came a priority and therein lies the dilemma with a heightened risk of attack or non-compliance. It is imperative IT divisions assess the networks now and have a full understanding of the entire infrastructure – both on-site and remote. Time to take back control now that we are coming to the end of 2020. So, where do we start?
VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) usage has grown exponentially since March this year, but as great as VPNs are, they do unfortunately cause a bit of a headache to the security teams. Consider standardising on a corporate VPN for the remote workers and limit this to work devices – it will certainly decrease the levels of unauthorised access attempts.
Cyber Hygiene Practices in this world of Cloud Services is vital. Regular maintenance and updates of all applications not only ensures the technology is performing to it´s full potential, but also protects from possible breaches and vulnerabilities. At a corporate level, firewalls, anti-virus/malware applications is great, but with remote working, it is imperative to educate the workforce of the importance of Cyber Hygiene – a bit like making sure everyone washes their hands before dinner, or brushed their teeth before bed. Yep, you gotta be the grown up 😊 When did you last run your anti-virus software? Have you set up automatic updates? Why do you need access to this application? The list goes on and on and on. Create a Cyber Hygiene Policy and integrate this with all employees as part of their duties and responsibilities moving forward.
Putting these few little things into play will certainly help mitigate risks whilst maintaining a productive happy workforce and business continuity. I do not think it matters the size of a business – a Cyber Hygiene Policy is something all companies should have.