How Remote Work Increases the Risk of Insider Threats: What to Do

While most workplaces would prefer a setting where employees could easily travel home during the pandemic, everyone agrees that it was beneficial for employees to stay home and work from home with little to no commute.

 

However, growing with remote work comes more technical and workforce issues with the question of cybersecurity among many, and this necessitates better technological solutions, for insider incidents are happening at an alarming rate in organizations.

 

In this article, we will discuss some of the threats that remote employees can pose to your organization and the challenges they present. We will also give you some recommended solutions for handling insider threats.

 

What is an Insider Threat?

Insider threats refer to security risks that originate inside an organization or enterprise. They can involve anyone with access to private networks, sensitive data, or privileged information, regardless of whether the individual intends to harm others.

 

The following are some of the types of insider threats:

● Malicious Insiders: These company employees or contractors have a malicious intent of causing adverse impacts on their company to their advantage. They might lead to the theft of sensitive data from the organization and even destroy systems. In a remote setting, anonymity and lack of control may embolden more dangerous insiders.

●  Negligent Insiders: The employees accessing the data might not realize its sensitivity. Being careless and inattentive will cause a mishap. For example, phishing, weak passwords, and file sharing are a few. Increased threats also arise because personal devices and home networks facilitate working remotely.

●  Third-Party Contractors: Remote workers often engage contractors or third-party suppliers. Third-party contractors may access confidential information. Without proper controls and security policies, this risk could pose a serious threat even to well-secured organizations' data integrity.

 

How Remote Work Increases Insider Threat Risks

Several factors could worsen an insider threat when workers need to work remotely. Some significant domains are presented below:

 

Usage of Unsecured Personal Tools and Devices.

Remote employees rely on untested software and personal devices because they are not physically present, and no one monitors them. Most employees use public, unsecured Wi-Fi connections, encouraging hackers to proliferate.  

 

Increased Vulnerability to Attack

Personnel working from home cannot access the same security procedures, including the business's firewall, data loss prevention, security information, and event management. Ensuring one's electronic devices' safety outside the workplace is much more challenging. To secure their network, remote workers who used their devices were not given any security precautions.

Limited Physical Supervision

Traditional workplace settings often incorporate security measures and supervisors to make employees feel less susceptible to engaging in risky behavior. With remote work, this degree of supervision is eliminated. Employees will feel less responsible for their jobs and be more likely to engage in reckless or malicious behavior if they are not closely monitored. 

Increased Phishing Attacks

Home-based workers most easily become victims of phishing scams. Cyber hackers specialize in creating convincing forged emails and messages to get employees to share sensitive information or download virus-carrying software on their computers.

 

Due to remote work isolation, employees will not always be in touch with colleagues or even IT support regarding suspicious communications. As a result, attacks on account phishing by attackers may quickly go through without fail, and data could be stolen as well as accounts compromised.

Access Control Issues

Monitoring and controlling access to information in a remote environment is also difficult. Here, the problem arises when it becomes difficult to control access to the necessary tools to execute a set of tasks.

 

Leaking and disclosing data or illicit transactions based on privileges can be caused due to malicious or even unintentional access from authorized insiders. In addition, enforcing access controls and monitoring for suspicious activities become problematic in the context of remote work and, therefore, increase the threats from insiders.

Higher Psychological and Monetary Stress

Legitimate access can be exploited by personnel's malice or ignorance when they misuse privileges, leading to data breaches or unauthorized transactions. Tracking anomalies and maintaining strict access control in a remote workplace elevates the threat from the inside.

 

Insider Threat Solutions for Remote Employees

Awareness and Training

Remote workers should periodically receive cybersecurity awareness and training programs to recognize and handle cybersecurity threats. Employees require training to recognize phishing emails, protect their networks, and follow best practices for data protection. Due to emerging security threats and industry best practices, training should be updated occasionally. 

Secure Communication Tools

Virtual private networks and communication technologies are encrypted to communicate and converse with people miles apart safely. Encrypted technologies are a must as they keep criminals from eavesdropping on or intercepting communications from critical staff members.

Passwords and MFA

It will improve security significantly by implementing MFA and strict password policies. Workers must enable all the MFA technologies where possible, and complex, one-of-a-kind passwords must be established for numerous accounts. It becomes challenging for hackers to gain access to login credentials and illicit access with an added layer of protection through MFA protections.

Keep track of remote workers' activity.

Remote work transformed the workplace but heightened insider risk. Powerful technologies like zero-trust security, endpoint protection, and monitoring can help control such risks at work.

Kaspersky Standard protects all harmful activities regarding data your business owns without considering where an employee works. But the best solutions to protect remote work's insider threats are preparation and vigilance. Training, security reviews, and tools are how you will best fight these forces.

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)

Virtual private networks encrypt the information transmitted from the remote worker's device to the business network. This way, hackers will never steal whatever information a public Wi-Fi network may expose through vulnerability.

 

Using a VPN guarantees data transmission security and reduces the chances of man-in-the-middle attacks. Encourage remote workers to use firm-approved VPNs to ensure communication security.

Implementation of Automated Updates for Software

Most entry points of the cyber attackers lie in older software that contains unpatched vulnerabilities. Therefore, every organization should put automatic software updates on all devices that connect remotely.

Constant system updates lessen the chance of criminals exploiting known vulnerabilities. Upgrades to security software, operating systems, and collaborating tools should always be available.

Final Thoughts

Working from home has changed how we work, but it also increases the likelihood of insider threats in cybersecurity. Businesses can reduce this risk using robust security tools such as the zero-trust model, device security, and tracking systems.

 

Security null such as Kaspersky Standard protects your company's data from harmful activities, so it doesn't matter where your employees work. The best way to lower the risk of insider threats at work from home is to be always ready and aware. The best protection you can have is regular training, security checks, and the right tools.