The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled many employees across the world to WFH to ensure that they adhere to lockdown and social distancing mandates to fight against the pandemic.
WFH has created certain challenges for the organizations to protect their digital asset from rapidly increasing cyberattacks. These obstacles have intimidated all types of businesses. WFH means not having 100% control over the end user’s security practices. Therefore, it becomes important for employees to take precautions to secure the organization’s assets from cyberattacks.
Challenges:
Due to this lack of control over the employee’s security practices during work from home and the vulnerability of their networks to cyberattacks, there have been myriad new challenges for organizations due to WFH.
Phishing e-mails
Cybercriminals are trying to access the most sensitive data of an organization by sending phishing emails to employees. Phishing emails may look like they are from the well-known source or from a company that you trust. This kind of email can also be in context to current scenario like COVID-19 or any other trending topic. The email may invite you to click on a link or to open the attachment. If you respond to such activities, you are possibly allowing yourself to be a victim of phishing attack.
Home Wi-Fi Security
Hackers and cybercriminals are aware that most employees are in WFH mode and hence may not have adequate security measures. Hence, unguarded home Wi-Fi becomes a potential entry point for hackers.
Some simple tips to ensure security of your network are as below:
- To ensure that you disable auto connect when joining networks
- Change password frequently
- Dismiss networks that you do not need in your preferred list.
- Turn on firewall
- Use VPN to improve privacy settings.
Hackers can manipulate VPNs
VPN has become essential to every business. It encrypts the internet connection in secured way. In this COVID-19 pandemic, many networks that enable remote working are attacked by malware and viruses. It might be due to the security lapses or loopholes which enable hackers to clash through VPNs. Therefore, it is vital to ensure very strong endpoint authentication while also periodically checking if configurations of the VPN are intact and not tampered with.
File-Sharing and Collaboration
Employees working from home use unprotected networks or public networks to share files. These files may include crucial information about organization, clients, or employees. Unfortunately, using such networks can give rise to cyberattack or open the door to cyber threat to trigger organizational asset. The risk of a virus or malware attack is relatively higher when employees increasingly collaborate over non-secured networks.
SIEM – The answer?
With cyber-attacks becoming more complex and sophisticated, the demand for Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions is growing by the day.
Here are some SIEM solutions that can address the above challenges:
Data Aggregation
Predictably, hackers love to take advantage of dark web from which your information could be stolen.
Fortunately, SIEM solutions allow your enterprise to turn on the lights. Data aggregation consolidates vast amounts of detailed data from multiple sources and stores it in a central location. It detects and gathers all the required information to prevent hackers from concealing their malicious activities.
IT security teams should be well-updated about the threats which could possibly be faced by employees while they are in WFH mode. The teams can steadily fix patches and update the system whenever required. One of the major responsibilities of SIEM tools is to track any malicious emails or any irregular activity which can cause a cyberattack.
Log Management
SIEM tools help to expose an attack or identify someone who attempts to compromise the network. A log management helps collecting log data coming in from multiple endpoints and allows to search through the database so that the information required for resolution/ mitigation of such attacks can quickly be found and implemented. The SIEM tools are invaluable as time is of utmost importance here and if the attacks are not addressed quickly, the damage could span across revenue, business reputation etc.
Threat Intelligence Feeds
SIEM capabilities include connecting to threat intelligence feeds, staying up to date with threat intelligence to ensure the safety of organizational asset. This SIEM solution provide information on any potential cyber threats and risks.
Security Event Correlation
SIEM event correlation is an essential part of any SIEM solution. This feature allows organizations to analyze log data from across your network applications, systems, and devices, making it possible to discover security threats and malicious patterns. For example, if there is an employee account that hasn’t been accessed for years, and suddenly multiple logins are noticed, the SIEM may tag that account and activity as suspicious and raise an alert.
Conclusion: With the new normal post COVID-19, remote working is an imperative and security practices must complement it to ensure seamless functioning of organizations.
We hope your organization has implemented adequate SIEM tools to identify, manage, mitigate, and pre-empt cybersecurity threats and attacks.
Please stay safe as we navigate the pandemic together. While we do so, please do feel free to reach out to us at marketing@cloverinfotech.com to consult on the adequacy of your cybersecurity measures for the new normal and to implement the best cybersecurity practices to safeguard your enterprise.
