Cybersecurity In 2021- How Can Companies With Remote Employees Manage Risk?

Cybersecurity in 2021: How Can Companies with Remote Employees Manage Risk?

Because of the large number of employees who work from home, the year 2020 will mark one of the most significant shifts in workplace culture since the invention of the Internet. Even though telecommuting and remote work had gained acceptance over the previous decade, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend and cemented remote work's place as a widely accepted practice. Job functions that were previously performed in person are now carried out entirely through the use of remote communication technologies. However, as more companies adopt remote working practices, there has been an increase in concerns about protecting critical company assets from cyber vulnerabilities and threats.

We spoke with Mourad Oulid-Aissa, PhD, CISSP, Chair of South University's online Information Systems & Technology Department, in order to gain a better understanding of these threats and how organizations have responded to them. A selection of the information he provided is provided below.

Increased Security Risks for Remote Workforce

When a portion or the entirety of an organization's workforce is located remotely, protecting the organization's information systems and technology infrastructure becomes significantly more difficult. Remote workers are more vulnerable to phishing attacks, unauthorized data storage, password sharing, and the use of insecure devices and the internet than their office-based counterparts are.

Cybercriminals are well aware of the security risks associated with the pandemic, and cybercrime has increased dramatically as a result of the outbreak. FBI complaints have increased from 1,000 per day to 3,000-4,000 per day, according to the Bureau of Investigation. If cybercriminals are successful in identifying and exploiting an organization's vulnerabilities, they may be able to compromise the organization's knowledge, facts, data, processes, intellectual property, software, and hardware. Revenue streams for organizations may be slowed or even completely stopped as a result of these events. Large fines and business disruption are also significant concerns, particularly if sensitive data (such as social security numbers or credit card information) is compromised.

Five Steps to Improve the Cybersecurity of Your Organization  

Organizations must conduct a risk assessment of their information systems and technology infrastructure in order to mitigate the risks associated with remote workforces. When it comes to critical assets, the time has come to identify potential vulnerabilities, consider potential threats, and assess the risk associated with those assets. The following are the most important areas to pay attention to:

• Unauthorized or unexpected modifications to information (to protect integrity)
• Information disclosures that are not authorized by the organization (to protect confidentiality)
• Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks that cause critical services to become unavailable or to function improperly (to protect availability).

Following the completion of a risk assessment, an organization can develop and implement security controls to mitigate all of the risks identified in each of the areas examined. Dr. Oulid-Aissa recommends the following steps for you to consider:

1. Carry out a risk assessment of the most important areas

Unprotected areas of critical infrastructure are vulnerable to being breached by cybercriminals, who could then use that access to launch a cyberattack. As a result, cybersecurity teams should check the accuracy and quality of the following information:

• Capabilities for tracking data movement, including both incoming and outgoing data streams
• Applications and tools that are accessible to remote workers through laptops and other devices.
• Networking and server infrastructure that is required for remote working services.
• Software and hardware systems that allow for the secure transmission of remote work communications.
• Workers who work from home have access to network services.

2. Determine whether or not the team is prepared to respond to cyber-attacks

A cybersecurity incident may not be contained and resolved in a timely manner if the incident response processes and resources are not well-defined and well-resourced. Extended system-wide outages could result, necessitating increased staff involvement and financial investment to bring the initial incident to a conclusion. When it comes to incident response, organizations should plan ahead and audit their procedures to ensure they are well-prepared to respond quickly in the event of an incident.

3. Inform employees about the significance of following best practices in cybersecurity

It is possible that employees will be more likely to click on a link or open an attachment that they should avoid if they are not aware of the dangers of phishing attacks in their email and text messages. Furthermore, users may not be taking sufficient precautions to protect their access credentials as well as sensitive company or client information. All team members should be reminded of cybersecurity best practices and potential risks in order to aid them in remaining vigilant and protecting the entire organization. Encourage them to avoid public Wi-Fi, create strong passwords, use secure file sharing platforms, and report any suspicious messages to the appropriate authorities.

4. Conduct an evaluation of the infrastructure's performance and reliability

In order to support a remote workforce, an organization's infrastructure must be capable of handling the processing load, throughput, and communication bandwidth requirements. Specifically, it is necessary to conduct a thorough examination of all secure communication network elements and applications, including firewalls, intrusion prevention and detection systems (IPS/IDS), virtual private networks (VPNs), and software defined networks (SDNs) (SDN). An attacker who can exploit applications or network protocols to disrupt business processes and services will have an easier time if these components are incapable of supporting the required load, throughput, or bandwidth.

5. Establish the capacity of your organization for monitoring and analyzing data flows both incoming and outgoing from it

Every organization must be aware of the flow of information between their systems and their remote workers. Typical data analysis devices include firewalls, network-based intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDS/IPS), and host-based intrusion detection and prevention systems (HIPS). Malicious actors may be able to pass themselves off as legitimate users if an organization's incoming and outgoing data flows are not sufficiently visible. In a similar vein, an unintentional remote worker could introduce malware into the organization's network without their knowledge.

Do you have a strong interest in cybersecurity?

Industry and government organizations require information technology professionals who have received cybersecurity training in order to operate, maintain, protect, and defend mission-critical assets. This program at South University, which offers a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology ("IT") with a specialization in Cybersecurity, is designed to prepare students for the growing demand in this field.

In accordance with the NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework (CWF), which is a collaboration between government, academia, and the private sector focused on cybersecurity education and workforce development; our program is aligned with the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education's (NICE) Cybersecurity Workforce Framework (CWF). A wide range of training courses are also designed to prepare students to sit for certification exams offered by well-known professional organizations, such as the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC)2 and the European Commission. Throughout the program, students will make use of virtual labs and cyber gamification platforms to combine theoretical projects with hands-on practice and application. Students will be prepared to pursue a variety of competitive roles in the cybersecurity job market once they have completed their studies.