Page 51 - Cyber Defense Magazine for August 2020

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normal that not everyone was prepared to endure. Remote working caught up, first out of
hesitation, then out of need and now looks like it’s here to stay.

For companies that had strong strategies in place before moving to remote working, the
transition was easy but for those that did not have policies and security protocols in place, the
change has been a real challenge. Employees have no choice but to work from home and
companies have no option but to facilitate the same. Ensuring work-friendly devices are available
to the employees to upkeep the business performance and employee productivity has been the
primary concern of business leaders.

Equally daunting are the security concerns and cybersecurity challenges that might arise when
employees work from home, for an indefinite period. When the employees and the devices they
use to exit the physical boundaries of the office, they are essentially out of the security posture
of the company.

Cybersecurity challenges during remote working

Unmanaged devices, routers, printers, and other devices

If the employees working from home have not been provided with provisioned and managed
devices including laptops, desktops, and tablets, they choose to opt for personal devices for
work. Unless the company has a BYOD management policy in place and can enable security
restrictions on the work container or profile of these devices, the device usage is safe and can
in fact help add to the employee productivity, since they use their favorite devices for work. But
if the devices are unmanaged and yet the employee is accessing work resources, corporate and
user data on these devices, the data is practically exposed to every possible cybersecurity threat
there is- from apps, websites, and unmonitored personal communication and collaboration tools.

Moreso, the devices are invariably connected to an internet router, peripherals such as printers.
Work calls happen in the presence of family/roommates and there are home automation systems
and bots eavesdropping on every work-related conversation. Clearly, the security protocols are
dull, if not faded during remote working.

How secure is home WiFi and/or VPN?

This has been a serious concern for organizations that haven’t extended secure internet hotspot
devices for employees to connect to while working remotely. The security of personal WiFi is
highly questionable, especially when it is accessed by multiple users for personal use. Home
networks commonly have the WEP protocols, which are known to be weaker, paving the way
for cybercriminals to walk into your data and devices.

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