A digital transformation is underway. An explosion of threats. The flexibility of working from home. The hybrid work environment. SaaS stands for Software as a Service. Migrations to the cloud. Remote access that is secure. Tunnels with a private network. SD-WAN. Ransomware. Phishing. Social engineering drive-by assaults Theft of credentials. BYOD. IT self-service. The list is endless. Never before has protecting remote employees been so difficult or dangerous.
Unfortunately, the old methods of securing remote workers are no longer adequate. VPNs are notoriously insecure and customized to suit. Backhauling Internet traffic to a secure data centre increases latency and has an impact on performance. The dynamic Internet is completely cut off by blacklists, preventing users from working.
However, businesses still use outdated technology to address emerging security issues. The security strategy of today must change in order to meet the requirements of the modern organisation, one in which users may log on and access corporate assets from any location, using any device, and be protected from the increasingly sophisticated threats of today without degrading performance.
Old habits are challenging to break, though. Following are five mistakes businesses make when attempting to shield remote workers from escalating cybersecurity risks:
1. Ignoring unmanaged devices
It’s simple to hide your head in the sand and claim that users aren’t using their personal devices to access corporate assets. Regardless of the restrictions in place, individuals are aware of the security risk they are incurring when they check their email or log into Salesforce on a personal phone, tablet, or laptop. However, they still carry it out—often without hesitation. In fact, two-thirds of American employees use personal devices for work-related activities, and these unmanaged devices (and networks, including consumer-grade WiFi) constitute a serious security risk to your company. At the same time, cloud consumerization has made it easier than ever for users to put down a credit card and spin up their own infrastructure without adhering to company guidelines, or even letting IT know about the rollout. When it only takes one click to grant threat actors initial access to a device and then spread them throughout the network, you must ensure that the connection between unmanaged devices and infrastructure and corporate resources is secure.
What to do about it
It is possible to build a virtual air gap between people and Internet material by taking into account isolation technologies for web, email, and applications. This would prevent malware, drive-by assaults, and ransomware from gaining access to end devices in the first place. This user-centric rather than device-centric strategy assures that even unmanaged infrastructure and devices that you are not even aware of are protected and that bad actors have no way to spread around the network in pursuit of high-value targets.
2. Fail to plan for the future
Malicious actors are smarter and more adaptable than ever. Cybersecurity is a never-ending battle between threat actors and security teams. As soon as a new security control is developed, attackers find a way to circumvent it. A new tool closes the gap, and hackers find another way in. The point is that what works today does not always guarantee that it will work tomorrow. The highly evasive adaptive threats (HEAT) of today target web browsers and use methods to get past various layers of security stacks now in use, such as firewalls, Sandbox analysis, Secure Web Gateways (SWGs), URL reputation, and phishing detection. When credentials are compromised or malware is sent, these HEAT attacks are the first point of entry, which frequently results in ransomware and other attacks.
What to do about it
Keep track of all activity in the threat landscape and consider what it means for the security you’ve already invested in. When it comes to cybersecurity, knowledge is power, and this is especially true when it comes to emerging threats like HEAT attacks.
3. Use VPNs to safeguard remote workers
In digital, agile organizations, users must be able to access applications and data reliably wherever they are needed. VPN appliances simply cannot scale to accommodate these needs. By compromising credentials through social engineering, fake login forms, or phishing, threat actors gain complete, unrestricted access to the rest of the network with very little east-west security control. By rerouting Internet traffic to a secure data centre, VPNs consume bandwidth and increase latency. In addition, they aren’t designed to meet the needs of the hybrid workforce of today.
What to do about it
Providing connections to your private applications with a layer of threat prevention is another option for secure remote access, such as enabling cloud-based application isolation. By leveraging Zero Trust access, you are able to maximize your security posture without compromising on the end-user experience.
4. Over consolidate security solutions
There is some logic to vendor consolidation. Approximately 50 to 80 security tools are used by organizations on average, and this number increases to 120 for large enterprises. Due to this software sprawl, capital and operational costs rise, and integration and visibility problems arise. There’s no surprise that eScan reports over 75% of global organizations will consolidate their security vendors within the next 12 months. The issue is that excessive consolidation might make things less effective. A best-of-breed security system that guards against all threat vectors cannot be provided by any vendor. Anyone who tries to create or piece together a comprehensive solution will unavoidably need to make concessions.
What to do about it
The best way to consolidate vendors is in small doses. While consolidation may make sense, it is not a good idea to rely on a single vendor (as eScan recommends with its internet security solution). While the industry faces a great deal of difficulties in terms of software sprawl and technology debt, organizations must be careful not to trade simplicity for weaker security.
5. Rely exclusively on detection and remediation
This is a significant one. Over the last decade, the security industry has told customers that breaches are unavoidable and that they should concentrate on detecting malicious behaviour inside the network. East-west security is essential, but it should not be at the expense of safety. HEAT attacks avoid detection and response by hiding in plain sight among seemingly innocuous technologies like JavaScript and VPNs. This enables malicious actors to infiltrate the network and remain undetected for days, weeks, or even months. The issue is that once there has been a breach, threat actors are moving more quickly than before. It only takes a few minutes to deploy the payload, as we recently discovered with the breach. Contrary to what other security companies may tell you, protection is not a hopeless endeavour, and you can prevent first access by taking preventive action.
What to do about it
Using Nemasis Zero Trust, which makes all content suspect and subject to enterprise security rules, results in a truly preventative security strategy that fixes the structural faults in the current network security stack and ultimately alters outcomes.
Changing working practises necessitate additional safeguards for remote employees. Organizations can adapt their security strategy to counteract contemporary threats by utilising web, email, and application isolation.
