More and more often we see news headlines where the protagonist is data leak. For this reason, companies must consider their databases as a valuable asset that they must protect. This is where remote computers come to work as the first defense barrier that prevents an organization’s data from being hacked. In companies with computers that work remotely, it is common for them to have configurations with fewer security protocols. That is one of the things that you should try to correct as soon as possible to avoid data theft, or at least, to make it more difficult for cybercriminals.
What digital risks do companies see in terms of security?
Currently, most remote workers work from home. An important piece of information is that members of remote computers are often not aware of cybersecurity. In that sense, they are unlikely to have intrusion detection systems and firewalls on their personal networks.
In a SafeGuardCyber study using a survey, digital risk was analyzed. It was conducted in October 2020 among 600 senior IT professionals, to rate their own security risks following the new digital reality of the workplace caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One of them has undoubtedly been a greater introduction of teleworking from home. The survey reveals that, despite the perceived digital risk around unauthorized applications, only 18% of respondents named security a concern.
Also 57% cited the Microsoft Computers and Slack platforms as one of the dangers that pose the greatest risk. The other one that follows closely with 41% is marketing technologies.
The personal social networks of the executives with 26% were also a factor to be considered by the respondents. Regarding concerns to protect digital infrastructure, recklessness with passwords with 66%, and keeping software up to date with 65% occupy the top positions. It is followed closely by cloud application platforms like Slack with 49%, and concerns about remote work from home with 31%.
But that’s not all, those senior IT professionals were also concerned about:
- Malware and ransomware attacks by 69%.
- For the loss of data 59%.
- Account commitment 50%
- Infiltration / APT 42%.
- Regulatory compliance 29%.
However, that does not mean that we are in dire straits. By understanding the risks of data hacking and the steps we can take to protect ourselves, remote computers can minimize the chances that your business will become just another hit stat.
The rise of data theft
The 2019 RiskBased Security Cyber Risk Analysis Data Breach Report revealed 3,813 breaches that exposed more than 4.1 billion records. Those figures represented a 54% increase in the number of reported violations and a 52% increase in the number of records exposed over the previous year.
Cybercriminals do not seek specific content when stealing databases. Your goal is to find corporate business plans, credit card details, and personal information that may be valuable to you. A Cisco report found that a significant number of companies are not protected. The report revealed that 62% of respondents’ companies either did not have a cybersecurity strategy or their strategy was inactive or out of date.
One thing to keep in mind is that data hacking can come from inside or outside the company, and our cybersecurity strategies must include several components. We cannot base all security on an intrusion detection system, no matter how good it is. In that sense, it is not reasonable because we would be playing our security to a single card.
The danger of internal data breaches in companies
Verizon ‘s 2019 Data Breach Investigation Report found that 34% of data breaches were caused by insiders of the company. However, it should be noted that insider data hacking is not always deliberate. According to Kaspersky , 52% of companies believe that their workers are their biggest security weakness. Thus careless actions and therefore human error endanger the security strategy.
Reasons why an employee may be careless can be:
- Don’t change passwords regularly.
- Not using a VPN on a Wi-Fi network or working from home.
- Not having your equipment updated and properly protected.
- Theft of mobile or portable devices.
Improvements we can make to avoid internal breach
Remote computers and other personnel working in company offices must have an action plan. Therefore, they must have training and protocols that they can rely on to know how to act. Thus, a very important part is continuous training throughout the company . This cybersecurity training can be online or face-to-face, it must be continuous over time and mandatory for all employees. Here it is important to include information on how breaches occur and how we can protect ourselves. It is a continuous career in which we must be informed and periodically take courses on phishing, scams and other security matters.
In addition, we must create guidelines and protocols for action in relation to cybersecurity . What we have to do is create a document that explains:
- How notifications of security problems are communicated.
- The company’s access security protocols.
- Employee performance in the face of various security threats.
- The use of multi-factor authentication and VPNs.
A culture of honesty must also be promoted , in which the worker is made aware that the sooner he informs the company of this security breach, the sooner the data can be protected and the damage caused by the infringement mitigated.
How to protect your business from external data hacking
Next, we are going to offer a series of proposals that can protect us from cybercriminals who try to steal data from outside the company. These measurements can also be used by remote computers. The company must manage the security of the equipment it uses. In this sense, it must guarantee security measures for its employees’ smartphones, computers and laptops.
Employees must practice good practice in creating strong passwords . Therefore, from this article we recommend creating a password with these characteristics:
- That have a minimum of 12 characters.
- Contain letters, numbers, and symbols like the $.
- Must include upper and lower case
In addition, these passwords must be changed periodically, ensuring that others that we have used previously are not reused. An important element is that we must work connected from a VPN . Thus, our connection will be encrypted and it is like having an encrypted tunnel inside which no one can read it. In public Wi-Fi networks, workers must use it even if they are not working, especially if the equipment is used for work at some point.
Another good practice is to use cloud-based encryption software to move our data to and from the cloud. Nor should we forget about multi-factor authentication , we should not entrust security only to the use of a username and password. Whenever possible, we must activate the accounts that use MFA or 2FA authentication. Finally, if the remote control equipment follows all this series of tips, they will improve their safety significantly.