Securing Hybrid Workplaces From Attack

Since lockdowns began, cyber crime has increased significantly  and remote working has presented major challenges and much biggest risks for many organisations. The surge of COVID-19 cases driven by new variants has challenged many organisations to quickly devise long-term hybrid work models that meet the needs of their businesses and employees. 

Although the Coronavirus pandemic may be receding it looks like that for many people remote working is here to stay.

ESET research found that while 80% of global businesses are confident their home-working employees have the knowledge and technology needed to handle cyber threats, while research from Entrust has revealed that 45% of businesses said they had experienced a cyber breach. 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 cyber security planning.

The majority of information technology decision makers believe that employees have increased their organisations' risk of a security breach by using personal devices for work and downloading software to do their jobs not approve which in many cases is not approved by their organisation's IT professionals.

Clearly, a new approach is needed to perfect the hybrid work model if it is to to become sustainable and organisations should think carefully about right  actions to securing their data in the new network infrastructure. 

The Entrust Report surveyed 1,500 leaders as well as 1,500 full- and part-time employees from 10 countries across four global regions and found a clear trend towards a more distributed workforce with less emphasis on traditional offices. Ninety-five percent of business 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.

Throughout the pandemic, bad actors have exploited security deficiencies of remote remote environments, such as insecure home tech hardware, poor password hygiene and employee use of unapproved tools. This suggests that the need for a high standard of security has never been greater.

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

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.

 ESET:     Entrust:    HRExecutive:      Wall Street Journal:       Techradar:       WeLiveSecurity:    

You Might Also Read:

61% Of Employees Fail A Basic Cyber Security Test: