Unique Cybersecurity Challenges in The Age of Remote Work

When COVID-19 shut down businesses throughout the world adopted working from home as a standard and continued to support remote work even as the world began to open back up. Businesses were forced to shift to remote work without warning, causing many companies to scramble and adapt to these changes without taking the time to implement the necessary data security policies and technologies to make working from home safe. Almost three years later, many companies still allow employees to work from home, and some of these data security needs are still left unaddressed.

Some common problems include:

• Employees using home networks that are not properly secured and sometimes choosing to access work information from a public (unsecured) Wi-Fi network at a local coffee shop for a change of pace. This leaves the data that is transmitted on these networks vulnerable.
• A lack of available equipment and the freedom to access systems not issued and managed by the company, triggered the need for a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy because employees were working on their personal computers, which may lack system updates, antivirus programs, encryption, and other security measures.
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• Existing policies did not address emerging issues and questions. For example, if the Wi-Fi or power goes out in the office, a business might send employees home early or follow a written protocol. What if the Wi-Fi or power goes out at home? Are employees allowed to end work for the day, or are they expected to go to a friend’s house or use a public network, like at a restaurant, to utilize their Wi-Fi network? Without written policies, employees are often left to their own judgment in these situations.
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• Employers cannot monitor physical security because the “four walls of the business” were constantly expanding. Does the employee have a private workspace, or do they work from their kitchen or another common area where family, friends, roommates, and others may be able to access their computer? Remote working made the walls of standard security controls crumble and business are still trying to piece it back together.
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• As more meetings switched to Zoom or other videoconferencing platforms, hackers increasingly joined meetings using stolen credentials. In addition to disrupting meetings, they could also glean sensitive information and sell it to other parties, which could then be used to damage a company’s reputation.

Many employees have a false sense of security while working from home. Working on a company computer or through a VPN does offer some protection, but it is nothing compared to the level of security within the four walls of an office.

Making Remote Work Safer

Whether your employees work in a physical office or their own homes, it is difficult to avoid security breaches entirely. However, by following best practices and making key improvements to cybersecurity practices, you can prevent most attacks and develop a plan to respond effectively if a breach does occur. A privacy assessment will help you determine specific ways your company can improve, but some general suggestions include:

• Antivirus protection – This should be standard practice in any physical workplace, but employers can go a step further by providing licenses for antivirus software to remote employees who use their own devices.
• Regular training – With proper training, employees should be able to recognize the key signs of a phishing email. Training should also include specific protocols for sending content to private email addresses and using cloud storage.
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• Secure networks – Specify if employees are allowed to work from locations outside of their homes, such as a coffee shop, restaurant, or a friend or family member’s home, and if there are any exceptions to the type of information they can access from these locations. Encourage them to secure their home networks with strong passwords.
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• VPNs – Virtual Private Networks cannot prevent cyberattacks on their own, but they are an important layer of protection that employees should use while working from home.