Stay Cyber-Secure Working From Home
Uploaded on 2020-03-31 in NEWS-Cybersecurity News, FREE TO VIEW
With many nations working from home, cyber hackers are attempting to exploit vulnerabilities and steal valuable information. Cyber criminals are increasing their activity as they look to capitalise on the Covid-19 crisis. The current advice from the British National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which is a part of GCHQ, details steps on how organisations should prepare for increased remote working and ensure staff are vigilant with work devices that may contain sensitive data.
It warns that employees are more likely to have their devices stolen or lost when they are away from the office or home, so efforts must be made to ensure data is encrypted while in a resting state.
In the UK alone, victims lost over £800,000 to coronavirus scams in February, reports the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau. One unlucky person in particular was left £15,000 lighter after buying face masks that never arrived.
Experts are warning of a new wave of cyber-attacks targeting Americans who are forced to work from home during the coronavirus outbreak.
There is increasing evidence that hackers are using the concerns over the virus to prey on individuals and that working outside secure office environments opens the door to more cyber vulnerabilities.
Despite these risks, remote workers continue to use public Wi-Fi in large numbers. A recent Spiceworks Data survey indicated that more than 60% of organisations’ workers use company-issued devices on public Wi-Fi networks. The proliferation of connected smart devices in the home has increased the number of attack points, which means that remote workers need to be more vigilant about securing their home offices.
One of the easiest ways to lower the risks associated with public or poorly secured networks is for companies to require the use of a virtual private network that allows for secure connections. While that can be effective, it also needs to be paired with comprehensive training.
Cyber security training staged at regular intervals is imperative for managing all types of threats in the workplace: online, offline, in office or out of the office.
When conducting these sessions, however, it’s important to really place an emphasis on the specific challenges associated with remote work.
- Show workers how to spot common phishing attacks, raise their awareness of spoofing and other techniques
- Ensure that each worker understands the basics of good IT hygiene.
- A modest investment here can be paid back exponentially if a significant security breach is averted.
To manage risk, it’s important to ensure all software is current and continually updated. Common tools such as malware scanners, firewalls and virtual private networks can also help maintain security.
For something a bit more advanced, organisations can choose to deploy breach and attack simulation software. These platforms simulate common attack techniques across likely attack paths to help expose an organisation’s security vulnerabilities. UK Police say that as more of us keep away from the office, they're already seeing an increase in cyber-attacks across the country, so we're being asked to be careful.
Tips to Reduce Cyber Risk:
- Ensure that your computer systems and virtual environments are resistant to cyber threats and implement stronger security measures where appropriate. Additional layers of encryption or password protection are recommended.
- Speak to your SaaS (software as a service) vendors about their business continuity plans to ensure there is minimal impact and disruption to your business and that they are ready to assist you with disaster recovery.
- Refresh your staff training on cyber hygiene and looking after personal and confidential information. Get them some cyber training on phishing attacks, cooperation assistance during a data breach, not leaving physical documents lying around, taking care when working on laptops in public spaces.
- Prevent staff using personal, unsecured IT equipment at home and transferring data to unsecured platforms to access data remotely.
- Check your Covid-19 response plan, does it cover cyber incident response and are you prepared, and insured, for a data breach? Have you got lawyers and forensic experts you can call on in an incident?
- Make sure you can communicate with all remote working employees if your systems have to be taken offline. Remote working staff must be able to carry out a password reset remotely if needed.
- Protect your reputation and take measures to protect personal and confidential information, be careful about disclosing employee, customer or supplier health information otherwise you may be in breach of common law and contractual obligations.
Make personal devices secure:
If your organisation has sanctioned the use of personal devices, then it’s important that you implement anti-virus software and make sure that any software and operating systems that you are using are up-to-date. Outdated software is easy for cyber criminals to exploit.
Adopt secure working practices
Don’t be tempted to make life easier by forwarding information to personal accounts or cloud storage accounts, which are more vulnerable to cyber-attack. Locking your computer when it’s not in use, ensures that other family members don’t accidentally open your device to malware or phishing attempts.
Beware of Phishing
We're warned that cyber criminals are exploiting the coronavirus outbreak as an opportunity to send phishing emails claiming to have important updates or encouraging donations, impersonating trustworthy organisations.
For more information on training employees and making them much more cyber-secure please contact Cyber Security Intelligence.
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