Three in four organizations are currently utilizing a hybrid work model. Employers and employees alike feel this is the best path moving forward. However, only roughly one in five companies (21%) are fully confident their infrastructure security can support long-term remote work.
Regardless of whether employees are on-site or remote, this convenience is now a permanent cyber-risk for businesses. Listed below are the top 5 challenges in this new hybrid environment:
Over the last year, the shift to remote work has led to an increase in the number of identities and an increased focus on identity security, but a decrease in confidence in the ability to secure employee identities, according to a new Identity Defined Security Alliance (IDSA) study.
Some opportunistic cybercriminals have taken advantage of the pandemic environment to breach both consumer and organizations’ data. These cybercriminals are using COVID-19-themed emails as an opportunity to unleash ransomware attacks on organizations and consumers. Here, we focus on Remote Workforce and Remote Learning as areas that cybercriminals will continue targeting in 2021 and beyond, and explore mitigation strategies that may help reduce cybersecurity risks related to these areas.
One thing is clear: the hybrid model will be permanent. Occupier requirements are constantly evolving and they are driving new considerations for landlords and workspace providers. Let’s review the core considerations and components required to create a secure tech operating layer that reassures the integrity of the workspace, operation and infrastructure while delivering a great occupier experience.
HP Inc. released its HP Wolf Security Blurred Lines & Blindspots Report, a comprehensive global study assessing organizational cyber risk in an era of remote work. The report shows that changing work styles and behaviors are creating new vulnerabilities for companies, individuals, and their data.
Apricorn announced new findings from the Apricorn 2021 Global IT Security Survey, which found that, in some instances, respondents have placed unwarranted trust in their employees, household members and third-party vendors. More than 400 IT security practitioners across North America and Europe responded to questions about security practices and policies during remote working conditions over the past 12 months. The findings show that IT security professionals are concerned about the cyber risks brought about by remote work, with 75% putting COVID-centric policies in place, including use of two factor authentication (48%) and encryption of sensitive data (41%).
There’s a consensus building that for many of us, our post-pandemic reality will be a hybrid workplace—one in which a mix of in-person, WFH and offsite employees is a daily occurrence. This means it will be up to IT security pros to fill the gaps and stop intruders.
Securing diverse and distributed IT environments starts with the identity plane. Modern and evolving security threats are best prevented by securing identity through many layers relying on a Zero Trust model. Zero Trust, by which I mean “trust nothing, verify everything,” can serve as a foundation for the evolution of a modern security perimeter, one virtually drawn around each individual user, from anywhere they log on. By following Zero Trust principles and establishing user identity across devices, programs, and networks, modern enterprises can pursue a security program that is adaptive, contextual, and robust enough to defend against modern threats.
When is the last time you assessed your monitoring platform? You may have already noticed signs indicating that your tools are not keeping up with the rapidly changing digital workforce – gathering nonessential data while failing to forewarn you about legitimate issues to your network operations. Post-2020, these systems have to handle workforces that are staying connected digitally regardless of where employees are working. Your monitoring tools should be hyper-focused on alerting you to issues from outside your network and any weakness from within it. Often, we turn out to be monitoring for too much and still missing the essential problems until it’s too late.
