Cyber security is currently one of the biggest threats to businesses of all sizes. Cyber crime is one of the most prevalent and fastest-growing crime categories in the West and, as more businesses digitise further, more threats manifest themselves for security professionals to deal with. With major data breaches filling the headlines regularly, it has never been more apparent that all businesses need to employ exhaustive cyber security practices or risk the integrity of their networks and the private data of their clients and workers.
On top of the expanding world of connectivity that security staff must battle with, we are now facing one of society’s biggest existential threats in COVID-19, which has caused security staff particular difficulty. As hundreds of workers have started to work from home for the first time – many on personal devices – the overall risk surface of many businesses has instantly and dramatically expanded.
To ensure that security systems remain secure and to guarantee protection across the sprawl of each business, security staff will need to be aware of the key challenges and issues; some essential ways of dealing with the changes; and where the largest threats lie.
Issues that need dealing with
As the UK government has enforced the closure of non-essential workplaces and urged as many people as possible to work from home, the limits of control cyber security staff have over their systems are being tested. The two key issues with home workers will be insecure home networks offering a chance for cyber criminals to access sensitive information and insecure home devices which are open to a wealth of cyber malevolence.
Security engineers, analysts and administrators will need to be aware of what access needs workers will have while working from home and what limitations they’ll encounter while trying to ensure everyone can access the necessary software. Whether your business accesses its software on-site and so your workers will need VPN access or whether your data is hosted on the cloud will dictate your access governance strategy.
Read the full article in the May 2020 edition of PSI magazine
