Cyber attacks linked to COVID are on the rise. As firms gradually return at least a portion of their workers to the office, it’s critical to evaluate lessons acquired since the inception of work-from-home directives in order to strengthen IT security during this difficult transition period.
Working from home could become a temporary or permanent option for some employees, while others return to the workplace prepared with face masks, hand sanitizer, and disinfecting wipes.
After all, according to a recent poll, 79% of IT executives believe their company will be more flexible with Working From Home policies once the pandemic has passed, without . However, one-third of workers believe they didn’t receive adequate training on how to work securely and efficiently from home, according to the same survey.
According to a recent survey of 500 North American senior IT decision makers and knowledge workers, security and network difficulties are at the top of the list of remote work challenges for firms; nearly half, or 47%, have reported an increase in cyber threats and ransomware risks since Working From Home began.
Working From Home reveals IT security flaws.
For many firms, switching to Working From Home was a hurried decision because they didn’t have a strategy—or a sustainable SD WAN network—to support a totally remote workforce. Given the circumstances, this is understandable.
However, it immediately highlighted security flaws in businesses, resulting in an increase in hostile activities and cyber attacks by individuals hoping to benefit from a global epidemic.
Fast forward a few months, and some employees are returning to work, while others are using Working From Home rules until the end of the year (or permanently). For example, Google’s global staff will be able to work from home until the end of 2020.
It’s obvious that it’s still a work in progress. However, when firms gradually return at least a portion of their staff to the office, it’s critical to evaluate lessons acquired since the inception of work-from-home directives in order to strengthen IT security during this difficult transition period.
Increasing cloud security
The focus in mid-March and early April was on getting staff up and running while implementing baseline security measures including offering secure Wi-Fi on work devices, anti-virus software, and endpoint protection.
According to a survey by security firm McAfee, which evaluated cloud data from more than 30 million commercial customers between January and April, all cloud services across all industries rose 50% from the beginning of 2020.
However, it was discovered that traffic from unmanaged devices to enterprise cloud accounts increased by twofold. At the same time, the number of external attacks targeting cloud services increased by 630 percent, with collaboration platforms receiving the most attention.
Some industries had a bigger damage than others: Threats to transportation and logistics, for example, have increased by 1,350 percent (government increased 773 per cent, manufacturing 679 per cent and financial services 571 per cent).
To maintain visibility over scattered workforces, McAfee researchers recommend firms move their focus to cloud-native security services, such as building a cloud-based secure gateway or using a cloud access security broker platform with policies for device checks and data controls.