How Remote Workers Can Leave Your Company Vulnerable To Cyber Attacks

Even before we were all thrust into a global pandemic, cybersecurity was a difficult task for organizations of all sizes. Getting hacked wasn't a matter of 'if' but 'when'. Now that companies are sending their staff home to work remotely, it's only going to make the task of protecting their digital assets more difficult.

How so? It increases the number of potential attack vectors. Social engineering and phishing emails are among the top methods used by hackers to gain access to your computer systems. When a company switches from an office work environment to a remote work environment there's likely to be an increase in email communication.

This will inevitably lead to a rise in phishing attacks. For hackers, it's simply a numbers game. More emails being sent means the numbers begin to increasingly play in their favor. To help safeguard your company we always recommend conducting simulated phishing tests within your organization to help train your staff to spot phishing emails.

Another reason a company can be left vulnerable is simply by rushing to set up the remote work environment. If you don't have the proper end-to-end encryption and VPNs set up along with network monitoring and intrusion detection then you're taking a huge gamble with your digital assets.

Whatever your level of security is, your company would also do well to have a breach response policy in place. It'll help to ensure that the inevitable data breach doesn't become a business-killing event for your organization.