07-11-2020 , 06:45 PM
Quote:Organisations across the world are finding themselves newly vulnerable to cybercriminals looking to exploit mass uncertainty, but this could be just the push needed to transform cybersecurity.
With a minute’s countdown to a crucial video conference, a remote worker will click on any link that gets them into a meeting on time. Yet that’s the trojan horse criminals are using to breach defences during the coronavirus pandemic. People aren’t the only ones being infected; devices are too, with . It’s no wonder cybersecurity is now topping the business-risk agenda.
“This new work-from-home experience makes everyone vulnerable, especially because ,” explains Chris Boyd, lead intelligence analyst at Malwarebytes. The rapid shift to a distributed workforce has been a golden opportunity for cybercriminals, even coining a new phrase – Zoom bombing – where video calls are hacked.
In March alone, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre removed 2,000 online scams related to the pandemic, including 555 malware and 200 phishing sites. “This is why IT teams are rethinking the levels of oversight they have over network activity, especially as it now takes place across so many more disparate devices and locations,” says Carl Leonard, principal security analyst at Forcepoint.
Digital assets are now sprawled across many soft targets, rather than a handful of centralised harder ones; it means the business risk is greater. “It’s currently open season for criminals. Distracted, afraid, frustrated, confused and isolated from colleagues, it would be impressive if we found a way to make remote workers into easier targets for cyberattacks than they are right now,” says Dr Patrick Scolyer-Gray, associate research fellow in cybersecurity at Melbourne’s Deakin University.
Tracking and tracing digital assets
Faced with this threat, companies are waking up to the risk of remote working. Password-less technologies are now more prevalent, as is multi-factor authentication. One-time password tokens and biometrics are also being implemented.
“User behavioural analytics, which leverages artificial intelligence, can establish a baseline of normal behaviour for individual devices and create a new layer of security,” says Ronan David, vice president of strategy at EfficientIP. “Many companies have also expanded their reliance on the cloud, whether in-house or third party. But as an increasing number of apps and devices connect to the cloud, they become harder to keep track of.”
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