Mitigating Cyber Risks Associated with Hybrid Workers

Everyone is going to have a different opinion on remote work. Plenty of statistics show that it leads to happier, more productive workers. There is a rapidly growing number of professionals who will make career decisions based on whether or not they can work remotely. At the same time, some industry leaders are blaming lackluster product launches and poor company culture on remote and hybrid work. While more often than not, the negatives of remote work end up being situational or improperly framed, it’s also not a guarantee that hybrid or remote work always has immediate gains.

The shift to remote and hybrid work models has brought new cybersecurity challenges to the forefront as well.

As employees toggle between office and remote work, the risk landscape expands. Maintaining a secure environment is crucial. While we think remote work is here to stay for a large percentage of organizations, it’s important to understand and mitigate the risks that come with it. 

Let’s delve into best practices for hybrid work security.

Understanding the Cybersecurity Challenges of Hybrid Work

Hybrid work models, combining remote and office work, are becoming the norm.

This shift has introduced new cybersecurity challenges.

• Hybrid workers often use a mix of corporate and personal devices.
• They connect to various networks, some of which may be insecure. This is even the case with workers who travel, such as salespeople.
• The boundaries between work and personal data can blur, increasing the risk of data breaches.

The Rise of Hybrid Work Models

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of hybrid work models.

Companies had to adapt quickly, often without adequate time to address all cybersecurity implications. On top of that, many businesses may have implemented the bare minimum to allow for a hybrid work situation, but never went back to review it and audit it for security.

Key Cyber Risks for Hybrid Workers

Hybrid workers face unique cyber risks.

Unsecured Wi-Fi networks, lost or stolen devices, and outdated software are common threats.

Moreover, phishing and other social engineering attacks can exploit the isolation of remote work.

By no means is an office inherently more secure than a home network, but if your office IT is properly managed and maintained, it tends to be much more secure than a home network that is properly cared for. 

It’s entirely possible to ensure that hybrid users get the same level of security as they would when in the office—it just takes a slightly different approach.

Best Practices for Hybrid Work Security

To mitigate cyber risks, companies must adopt robust security practices.

These practices should be tailored to the unique needs and challenges of hybrid work. It’s best to look at these challenges not as additional challenges due to hybrid or remote work, but as the baseline standard of what your organization needs to do to keep itself secure. While some of these challenges stem from a hybrid workforce, most of the best practices and policies should be in place even for organizations that only staff in person.

Maintain Visibility in Your Environment

Visibility is crucial in a hybrid work environment, just as it is in the office.

Companies need to monitor network activity continuously and manage their workstations and other endpoints. Your IT’s stability and effectiveness depend on how well it is managed and maintained, and that doesn’t change when your staff works from home. 

Your business should still issue workstations/laptops for your remote staff, and those devices need to be managed, kept updated, and secured. 

This helps detect and respond to security incidents promptly. It’s also just a general good idea for tracking usage.

Secure Data Storage and Transportation

Data storage and transportation must be secure.

Again, this is a requirement for office workers too. In fact, long before the pandemic, if an organization didn’t provide the solutions that employees needed to store, share, and collaborate (more on this later when we talk about Shadow IT), the employees would simply hunt down their own solutions.

Suddenly you have data being stored and passed around on free or cheap consumer-grade services. You have staff using personal Dropbox accounts to send and share data, and suddenly you don’t have control over where your data is stored or who has access to it.

If the organization provides encrypted cloud services, it can give staff what they need to be productive, while controlling and protecting sensitive information.

The same goes for VPNs, which are required to allow secure access to the office from a device on another network.

Locking down cloud-based apps to only work on the VPN ensures that bad actors don’t access sensitive information—again, this is something that should be done anyways, as you wouldn’t want unauthorized access in the first place.

Limit Inbound Network Traffic

Modern firewalls and other cybersecurity equipment often have features for hybrid work in mind. We already mentioned VPNs, but there are other network policies to take into consideration as well. One important one is controlling and limiting inbound network traffic.

There are conditional policies that verify a user, only allow trusted devices, and require multi-factor authentication.

This minimizes the chances of unauthorized access. Like the other best practices, it’s something that you’ll want in place for office staff too, but we would configure it slightly differently to make sure remote workers get the bandwidth they need to access data and operate smoothly.

Reduce Shadow IT to Zero

Shadow IT refers to the use of unauthorized software and services. We mentioned a scenario above where users may use personal, consumer-based solutions to share files. That’s Shadow IT. When the end user comes up with their own way to do something that involves using unauthorized hardware, software, or third-party services, it can lead to your organization losing control over its data.

It can be reduced through clear communication and approved alternatives. Management needs to be open to listening to staff and providing the solutions needed, as well as providing training on the solutions that are in place so staff know to use them as opposed to using something else.

Reducing shadow IT to zero is a crucial step in securing any work environment.

Enforce Secure Access to Accounts

Secure access to accounts is vital.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a critical component of secure account access. This is where users are required to enter a PIN as well as their username and password to gain access to an account or application. 

Companies should enforce MFA to protect against unauthorized access, and it should be enforced wherever possible to use a company-approved MFA application (as opposed to using SMS/text messaging methods).

Implementing Cybersecurity Measures

Implementing cybersecurity measures is a proactive approach to securing hybrid work.

These measures should be scalable and adaptable to the changing hybrid work landscape.

Regular Security Training and Awareness

Regular security training for hybrid workers is essential.

It can mitigate risks associated with phishing and other social engineering attacks. Some remote workers tend to not want to “shake the boat” and are less likely to report problems or threats like phishing attacks. Of course, you’ll get this with in-house staff too, but the ratio for remote workers is slightly higher.

A well-informed workforce is the first line of defense against cyberthreats, and helps resolve this. Encourage users to be open and transparent. Remind users that being scammed and experiencing cyberthreats is not a punishable offense, and encourage communication and reporting from everyone.

Multi-Factor Authentication and Access Management

We already mentioned this, but it’s worth bringing up again because most organizations just assume that MFA is the responsibility of the end-user and it will just happen. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a critical component of secure account access, but it needs to be put into policy at work. It’s not a recommendation, it needs to be a requirement.

Regular Audits and Compliance Checks

Regular audits and compliance checks help maintain cybersecurity standards.

They ensure that security measures are working as intended.

These checks are crucial for identifying potential vulnerabilities and addressing them promptly.

Fostering a Culture of Cybersecurity

Fostering a culture of cybersecurity is vital for hybrid work, and to be honest, any office configuration. 

It encourages employees to take responsibility for their actions, enhancing the overall security posture, and it provides the structure and policies to enforce best practices.

The best way to start is to have your network reviewed. If it’s been a while since your business has had a deep dive done on its IT, now is the time. Give Datalyst a call at (774) 213-9701 to book a free consultation.