Remote Workers and Cybersecurity

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything and it looks like remote workers are here to stay. Along with this, the FBI has reported an increase in cyberattacks to 4,000 per day in 2020, which is 400 percent higher than the attacks reported before the onset of the coronavirus. The trend in increasing cyberattacks is expected to continue well into the future. Given these circumstances, the best solution is to build your cyber resiliency and protect yourself and your remote workers from unforeseen attacks.

Challenges

Cybersecurity has always been a challenge. A single unexpected breach could wipe out everything and put your existence in question. 

With the sudden transition to remote working, this challenge has increased multiple times for security teams. From the potential safety of your networks to trivial human errors, there are endless ways in which your business could be affected when employees are working remotely.

A study by IBM Security has estimated that about 76 percent of companies think responding to a potential data breach for remote workers is a much more difficult ordeal. Also, detecting breaches early is another big issue for IT security teams. The same study by IBM has estimated that it takes companies roughly about 197 days to detect a breach and 69 days to contain it. Are you protected from potential attacks?

Be aware of these threats

Phishing scams: Phishing emails still pose a major threat to the digital landscape of many business organizations across the globe. COVID-19 communications have provided the perfect cover for these emails to lure unsuspecting users. By creating a sense of urgency, these emails might persuade your employees including your remote workers to click on malware links that could steal sensitive data or install malicious viruses on your systems.

Ransomware: Targeted ransomware attacks are increasing every day. It is estimated that a ransomware attack will happen every 11 seconds in 2021. Millions of dollars are paid to hackers every year as businesses cannot risk losing their data. Also, there is no guarantee that your files will be secure even after you pay the ransom.

Cloud Jacking: With the cloud becoming a more sophisticated way of storing data, incidents of cloud jacking has become a serious threat. These attacks are mainly executed in two forms – injecting malicious code into third-party cloud libraries or injecting codes directly to the cloud platforms. Keep in mind that most cloud-based data security responsibility rests with the users.

Man-in-the-middle attack: Hackers can insert themselves in a two-party transaction when it happens on a public network. Once they get access, they can filter and steal your data. If your remote workers use public networks to carry out their official tasks, they are vulnerable to these attacks.

Distributed Denial-of-Service attack: This attack happens when hackers manipulate your normal web traffic and flood the system with resources and traffic that exhaust the bandwidth. Once the network is clogged, your business will be at a standstill. The attacker will be able to manipulate your network and your data. Your employees (including remote employees) will have no access to required resources.

Protecting your business

Your reputation can be ruined with news of security breaches. Your customers and employees could move elsewhere.

Investing in cybersecurity solutions is considerably cheaper than losing your data, your employees, or your customers. It’s also much cheaper than paying a large ransom. If all these aspects of cybersecurity sound daunting to you, reach out to us today to get a full understanding of your vulnerabilities and how you can safeguard your business with the right tools and techniques.

 Data Sources:

1. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/top-cyber-security-experts-report-4-000-cyber-attacks-a-day-since-covid-19-pandemic-301110157.html#:~:text=Cybercrime%20Statistics%20During%20the%20Pandemic,they%20were%20seeing%20pre%2Dcoronavirus
2. IBM 2020 Cost of a Data Breach Report
3. https://www.idagent.com/blog/10-2020-ransomware-statistics-that-you-need-to-see/
4. 2020 Forcepoint Cybersecurity Predictions and Trends

Contact us for additional information and a free analysis of your current infrastructure, policies, and vulnerability along with advice on how to protect remote workers.

Vivitec specializes in Cybersecurity and Managed IT Services. We know your business relies on technology and Vivitec believes your experience should be Simple, Secure, and Reliable.

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