Remote Workers are on Cybersecurity Frontlines

In 2024, our biggest cybersecurity threats continue to get smarter and faster. At least this is the conclusion one might come to after listening to experts like IBM Distinguished Engineer and Cybersecurity PhD Jeff Crume address the current and future state of our cybersecurity landscape in his 2024 speech:

“What I’m sure of is that the future will look something like the past. And in fact, one of the things we’ll see in in the future, are more AI-based threats.”

Phishing, deep fakes, ransomware, and IoT threats are among the trends outlined by Crume that remote workers can be especially vulnerable to, since a lack of traditional office boundaries often isolates them from the security infrastructure, training, and social engineering checkpoints that can weed out sophisticated cyber fakes and scams more efficiently.

The cybersecurity landscape has entered a new and uncertain era, and it’s unlikely the IT world will return to pre-COVID norms any time soon, back to work initiatives notwithstanding. The swift transition to remote working has brought cultural and technological shifts few could have foreseen, including cybersecurity experts who were initially caught off guard by the new class of risk factors and social engineering tactics.

The changing digital trenches

There was a time not long ago when we could count on our entrenched cybersecurity tools to handle various threats, when supported by a healthy dose of staff expertise. Extensive backup disaster recovery (BDR) plans, hybrid firewalls, and anti-virus software were among the ubiquitous tools at our disposal to mitigate cybersecurity risks and intrusions. While these tools are still effectively deployed, the battlefield has grown more complex.

The addition of remote work to the cyber landscape has extended the boundaries for IT teams. At a time when ransomware attacks, phishing, passwords theft, and other cyber intrusions are on the rise, this complication is more than a little scary. Whether desired or not, the burden of numerous cybersecurity responsibilities has now shifted to the worker. The explosion of attack surfaces coupled with a need to maintain service integrity ensured our cybersecurity limits would be challenged.

Opening the unsecured data floodgates

Punctuating the atmosphere of cyber danger, it isn’t the accessibility of business data, but how it’s accessed. There is, in the current digital climate, no real way to guarantee the safety of each remote working endpoint, which has now resulted in billions of exposed records. Additional layers of security have been deployed to secure the remote environment, including two-factor authentication, encrypted virtual private networks, and ongoing network monitoring. However, recent statistics reveal several alarming trends directly related to the hybrid workforce:

• In 2023, phishing attacks remained the primary cause of data breaches.
• A considerable 11% of business leaders express uncertainty regarding whether their company experienced a data breach in 2023.
• 40% anticipate significant repercussions on their organization's performance due to cyber-threats in 2024.
• A notable 59% of participants disclosed their lack of VPN usage.
• A significant majority (66%) of respondents admitted to not utilizing Password Managers.
• Approximately 19.5% of businesses have implemented AI for cybersecurity purposes.

A deluge of potentially unsecured data is now accessed by dozens to millions of workers, depending on the size of the organization. In the previous one-location paradigm, this data was monitored, secured at pre-defined layers, digested, and then divulged to the appropriate parties. Other information, like administrative messages, was also easier to manage when verification could be done on-site.

Leveraging new threat-intelligence

Many traditional security tools have been rendered obsolete, since they were developed based on single, critical events. Natural disasters, malware attacks, hardware failures, and DDoS are among the single-point-of-failure scenarios that fostered this traditional form of threat intelligence. With new cybersecurity threats coming from a variety of endpoints and angles, security teams are facing a new type of downtime risk. Reshaping the digital frontlines requires renewed threat intelligence, and preparation for a constant cybersecurity crisis rather than a single-event scenario.

Acquisition of this intelligence is easier said than done, but it starts at the behavioral level. It’s important to stress that:

• Threat actors usually seek financial gain, constantly adapt, and will exploit misinformation to lob attacks.
• Malicious parties will attack industries of any size or type.
• Attackers utilize misinformation and exploit current events to their advantage.

These malicious traits are something every remote worker and staff member should bear in mind when accessing any node or network layer. Part of the art of social engineering is catching employees in the vulnerable state that comes from a lack of training and awareness.

The dichotomy of strain and diligence

The lack of available IT resources and the growing need for stronger IT and cybersecurity controls have compounded, leading to thousands of strained, overworked staffs across the enterprise landscape. The advent of automated, AI-assisted cyber tools is helping to alleviate this burden, but the long term impact will be felt for years to come. With the shortage of resources came a shortage of cyber training for remote workers, leaving many unaware of the most serious risks.

Fighting back with intelligent resistance

The dismal reality is this: We are experiencing a strained, remote-based cybersecurity environment with sluggish responses, decentralized networks, a shortage of expertise, and a persistent disaster-based malware economy. So what’s the good news?

We know malicious attackers tend to seek out the path of least resistance. As it turns out, the best way to counter this tendency is by thinking like our adversaries. This is the idea behind advanced threat exposure management software. While vulnerability management seeks out unpatched applications and endpoints, threat exposure management takes things a step further, using agentless technology and automation to review and analyze combinations of overly permissive settings, exposure pathways, and vulnerabilities simultaneously, so the most valuable at-risk assets can be protected.

We live in a cyber climate that includes harrowing state-sponsored and coordinated attacks, but not all threat actors are mass operators with government-backed infrastructure. Predators tend to seek out easy targets, and this also applies to the IT world. Remote worker separated from IT teams, network firewalls, and other protections can often become like calves split off from the proverbial herd.

New and evolving cyber tools

Additional examples of intelligent resistance tactics that can applied to remote as well as in-person office environments include:

• Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS): Constantly monitor network traffic, identifying and alerting to potential threats and policy violations.
• Honeypots: Act as decoy systems, enticing attackers away from critical assets, enabling observation of their tactics and behaviors.
• Behavioral Analysis: Utilize machine learning algorithms to scrutinize user and system behaviors, swiftly detecting any irregularities indicative of potential threats.
• Endpoint Security Solutions: Employ advanced platforms powered by AI and machine learning to identify and neutralize threats at the endpoint level.
• Zero Trust Architecture: Embrace a security model that assumes no trust within or outside the network perimeter, necessitating stringent identity verification and continuous monitoring.
• Threat Intelligence Feeds: Integrate feeds into security systems to stay abreast of the latest threats, tactics, and indicators of compromise.
• Automated Incident Response Systems: Implement automated systems capable of swiftly detecting and mitigating security incidents, minimizing response times.
• Red Team Exercises: Conduct simulated cyberattacks, either internally or externally, to identify vulnerabilities in security defenses and enhance incident response capabilities.

The redefined cybersecurity frontlines are stabilizing

The cybersecurity landscape has undergone a significant transformation with the rise of remote work, introducing new challenges and vulnerabilities. As highlighted by experts like Jeff Crume, the proliferation of AI-based threats, phishing, deep fakes, and ransomware pose significant risks to organizations, particularly those reliant on remote workers. Traditional security measures are being stretched thin, necessitating a shift towards intelligent resistance strategies.

While remote work has expanded attack surfaces and strained IT resources, it has also fostered innovation in cybersecurity. From advanced threat exposure management to behavioral analysis and automated incident response systems, organizations are leveraging intelligent tools to bolster their defenses. Redefining the cybersecurity frontlines involves empowering remote workers with training and awareness, transforming them into active defenders of data integrity.