If you're like many companies, you are likely increasing your options for remote work to keep your employees happy in the post-pandemic world. However, what you may not realize is the extent to which this increasingly common practice could lead to unexpected cybersecurity risks for your company and employees.
As such, you need a comprehensive plan that will allow you to navigate these threats before they arise and ensure you can continue to have success on this front, no matter where your employees are located.
Understand there's risk involved
In a recent survey of small-business IT professionals, nearly three-quarters said they felt any amount of remote work makes it harder for companies to follow best practices when it comes to cybersecurity, according to the latest IT Trends Report from Jumpcloud. In addition, more than half said managing remote workers has been their biggest challenge in lockdown.
Unfortunately, the risks common work-from-home habits pose run the gamut and make it difficult to stay on top of the threats; between 36% and 39% said employees using unsecured devices, software vulnerabilities and people using the same passwords and usernames across multiple apps were among their top concerns. As such, your organization needs to understand that there is an inherent risk you can't overlook.
Threat vectors increase
With the business world changing drastically — and in many ways, changing for good — in recent months, the people who perpetrate various types of generalized and targeted hacking attacks are changing their methods, according to the latest HLB Cybersecurity Report. Nearly two-thirds of companies say they have seen more activity and attempts that could lead to a data breach, and 1 in 8 say they have suffered such an incident.
Working remotely could lead to increased risk because people may be less likely to check whether requests, data or attachments they were emailed are legitimate.
Don't assume your in-house IT team will keep you protected
With the above having been said, managers of all stripes should keep in mind that even if your company is fortunate enough to have its own IT department, that doesn't mean those professionals are adequately provisioned to help you maintain a strong cybersecurity posture when dealing with dozens of decentralized connections to your network and data, according to the Bank Administration Institute. As such, it's not enough to assume they have the resources to deal with all these issues.
These departments may require more funding or staffing to make sure that, as you and your employees adapt to the post-pandemic world, there isn't an outsized increase in risk.
Finding the right security professionals to help you get up to speed with these modern risks isn't always a straightforward process, but YES Partners can help you through that process to make the right hire. To see some of the roles that we have already successfully placed, click here.
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