Posted by New Delhi: Remote work has become the new norm amid the COVID-19 pandemic for the last two years now. But it has also further complicated the security mechanisms of organisations. The latest study from Check Point revealed that the shift to remote work changed the security practices of organisations around users, devices and access.
The Check Point Software study surveyed 1,200 IT security professionals globally to examine how the shift to remote work changed organisations’ security practices.
Check Point released findings from a new assessment carried out amongst 1,200 IT security professionals globally, which examines how the shift to remote work changed organisations’ security practices around users, devices, and access.
The severity of the COVID-19 pandemic has been enormous not only in people’s lives but also in the way they work. Most companies have transitioned their entire workforce from on-premise to remote working.
While a majority of organisations have fully adopted remote work as a way of life, security-wise there are still many challenges and issues that need to be addressed.
Organisations are challenged with finding a balance between remote users’ productivity and ensuring device, access and corporate assets security.
According to Check Point Software’s best practices, there are five critical security solutions needed to protect remote users against internet-based attacks, which include URL filtering, URL reputation, content disarm & reconstruction (CDR), zero phishing and credentials protection.
However, only 9% of organisations surveyed use all five protections and 11% do not utilize any of the listed methods to secure remote access to corporate applications.
Key findings
The remote-access security gap: 70% of organisations allow access to corporate applications from personal devices, such as unmanaged devices or bring your own device (BYOD). Only 5% of respondents reported they use all of the recommended remote access security methods.
The need for internet access security: 20% of respondents reported that they do not use any of the five methods mentioned to protect remote users while browsing the internet, and only 9% use all five methods to protect against internet-based attacks.
A lack of protection against ransomware: 26% of respondents do not have an endpoint solution that can automatically detect and stop ransomware attacks. Thirty-one percent do not use any of the mentioned methods to prevent sensitive business data from leaking outside the organisation.
Email and Mobile Security: Only 12% of organisations that allow corporate access from mobile devices use a mobile threat defence solution. This highlights how exposed organisations are too fast-moving, 5th generation cyberattacks that target remote workers.
“While many companies have embraced the new hybrid and remote work models, they have not adopted all of the critical solutions needed to secure their remote workforce. This survey confirmed that organisations have a gap when it comes to users, devices, and access security,” said Itai Greenberg, VP – Product Management, Check Point Software Technologies.
“To bridge this gap, organisations should progress to a Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) architecture. SASE security models provide quick and simple access to corporate applications, for any user and from any device, and protect remote employees from all internet-based threats,” added Greenberg.
Overall in 2021, researchers have seen 50% more attacks per week on corporate networks. As cyberattacks become more sophisticated and exploit the remote work environment, enterprises need a consolidated cybersecurity solution that strengthens their defences and improves their agility against attacks.