Securing Hybrid Workplaces From Attack

The Coronavirus pandemic may finally be receding, but it looks certain that remote working is  here to stay.  Since he COVID-19 lockdowns began  cyber crime has increased and remote working has presented increased risks for businesses. 

A new Report by Entrust explores what is needed to perfect the new hybrid work model for sustainability and actions that all organisations and enterprises should consider to secure data in its new infrastructure. 

Cyber crime was already on the rise pre-pandemic and this new research has revealed that 45% of businesses said they had experienced a cyber breach. 

Research by ESET has found that 80% of global businesses are confident their home-working employees have the knowledge and technology needed to handle cyber threats. However, in the same study, three-quarters (73%) admitted they are likely to be impacted by a cyber security incident, and half said they’d already been breached in the past. This kind of disconnect does not make for coherent cybersecurity planning.

The majority of information technology decision makers believe that employees have increased a company’s risk of a security breach by using personal devices for work and downloading software (to do their jobs) not approved by IT. The surge of COVID-19 cases driven by new variants is challenging enterprises’ development of long-term hybrid work models that meet the needs of their businesses and employees. 

Entrust surveyed 1,500 leaders as well as 1,500 full- and part-time employees from 10 countries across four global regions, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore. There is a clear trend toward a more distributed workforce with less emphasis on traditional offices. As such, the need for a high standard of security has never been greater. And as the results showed, employees at least say their employers have made inroads to shoring up security. 

Ninety-five percent of leaders said their policies discuss data security and privacy best practices. In addition, 89% of leaders and 87% of employees said they feel confident their company’s data is secure when people work outside the office. But is this confidence warranted? 

If organisations are going to use hybrid work models successfully over the long term, then they will need to further invest in their security strategy. 

Throughout the pandemic, bad actors have exploited security deficiencies of remote environments such as insecure home tech hardware, poor password hygiene and employee use of unapproved tools. These cyber attacks will only continue if organisations neglect data security and don’t use data encryption to protect the integrity of communications across hybrid connections. 

In a remote, mobile-centric world where everyone in your company is an endpoint, IT leaders must put some cyber security responsibility into the hands of the very people who may be the most vulnerable, their employees. 

Recent large scale cyber attacks against even the the most highly protected and resilient organisations shows that security issues can happen in any industry. Companies with a security-first culture empower employees at every level of the organisation with security tools that make employee’s lives simpler with great UX and supportive training tailored to specific remote user behaviors and skill sets.

WeLiveSecurity:      InvestisDigital:     Techradar:   Wall Street Journal:   NEBRCentre:     ESET:      Entrust:

Image: Matthew Henry / Burst

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