It has become increasingly common for employees at a single organization to work from multiple physical locations, including but not limited to, one or more physical office locations, a range of offsite facilities, and telework. With this type of distributed workplace model, companies are facing new IT security challenges as they share data from numerous sources across disparate platforms and use a variety of collaboration tools.
Companies must now be concerned with a number of configuration and implementation needs and must take steps to limit predictable risks associated with:
- Using insecure home or public networks, when dealing with sensitive company data.
- Expanded attack vectors, including threats that target web services and applications, fileless attacks, phishing schemes, and ransomware attacks.
- Overwhelmed security resources, as companies work to address a much larger physical footprint and related data flow.
Even with a robust IT Security environment, there remains the risk of:
Data leakage
Data leakage has become a significant risk to businesses in recent years. As data is now being stored and accessed from a variety of platforms, software and system design flaws, as well as inadequate policies and procedures, leaves data vulnerable to unauthorized access and use.
Amateur Hackers
Amateur hackers have become the most common type of attackers on the Internet and commonly target web servers and electronic mail. This poses a great risk to organizations, as these bad actors work to plant viruses, trojan horses, keyboard readers, and other malicious code on employees’ systems for their own purposes.
Ransomware, Professional Hackers, and Saboteurs
The probability of this type of attack has been growing rapidly in recent years and, as such, organizations must be increasingly vigilant in protecting themselves from these threats. With these attackers often being highly skilled, focused, and profit seeking, organizations must take countermeasures to monitor and protect their systems and data.
Staff Threats, including Employees and Contractors
Employees and contractors may pose a threat to security, either inadvertently or purposefully. It is critical that organizations train personnel on proper security protocols, and install effective controls, such as thorough upfront vetting, well-defined user rights and access, detailed system logs, robust password protection policies, and regular security updates to address evolving threats.
BDA Global is here to help
Companies must adapt to the new threat environment in order to work effectively and securely, using a distributed workplace model. According to the Global Risks Report 2020 by the World Economic Forum, the chance of catching and prosecuting a cybercriminal is almost zero (0.05%).
Staying aware and current on IT security risks is key to securing sensitive data and avoiding breaches. As your cybersecurity partner, BDA Global can offer your organization a wide range of services to ensure that your systems and data are effectively monitored and protected. These services include cybersecurity audits and assessments, penetration testing, remediation support, cybersecurity process analyses and optimization, standard operating procedures development, among other tailored solutions for your organization’s specific needs.