In early 2020, remote work skyrocketed by more than 70%. And cybercriminals took advantage immediately. From February to March 2020 alone, ransomware attacks increased by over 148%. This sharp rise in activity calls for a look at cybersecurity practices—both at the enterprise level and at home.
To better protect distributed workforces, here are five steps to help reduce risk.
1. Take Security Operations Centers (SOCs) to the Cloud
Even office-bound SOC teams need a continuity plan. With a cloud-native security stack, teams can remotely:
- Identify vulnerabilities.
- Install patches.
- Validate configurations.
2. Promote and Practice "Digital Distancing"
Personal phones, tablets, laptops and smart assistants are a web of opportunity for bad actors. To foster digital distancing among remote workers:
- Isolate work to a separate network on home routers.
- Limit access privileges on home routers.
- Decouple work systems from connected devices.
3. Stop Island Hopping
Attackers hop from home networks to corporate assets. To detect threats to employee systems and corporate networks in real time from the cloud:
- Utilize endpoint detection and response for real-time device assessment and remediation.
- Apply micro-segmentation for malware isolation and damage minimization.
4. Harden Systems Used for Sensitive Conversations
To protect execs and employees working with sensitive data:
- Upgrade home-office routers.
- Deploy an Anywhere Workspace solution that spans all devices.
- Implement multi-factor authentication.
5. Make Tuesday "Security Night"
Routines lead to good habits. In addition to traditional patches, make Tuesday about remote work security:
- Reinforce best practices.
- Share security updates.
- Offer recommendations.
Now more than ever, it’s important to implement such strategies to keep our systems secure—no matter where we work from.