Te pandemic has seen many organisations shiſt to flexible working, meaning many employees now work from home regularly. As they are connecting to company networks and applications using their own Wi-Fi and devices, what advice would you give them to keep their own network secure? Remote work is a complex aspect that requires extra attention and tools to properly and safely function. Te transition from the corporate office to the home puts serious pressure on IT teams that are now supposed to keep company data secure, even if the user works from their personal laptop or from a company-issued device connected to a potentially hostile environment. Some of the most important threats while working from home are:


An increase in fraudulent e-mails that either lure victims into disclosing company credentials (phishing) or opening attachments rigged with ransomware. When working on a personal computer these risks are particularly important as the IT team does not have any control of the security solution, the way it is configured, or the security patching level of the used operating system. Compliance risks. At work, customer and company data is stored securely in accordance with local or international law. Data encryption, device management, and other security controls might not be necessarily available on the home computer, which could facilitate theſt or unauthorised disclosure of customer or company information. Hostile network environments. Unlike enterprise networking setups, home networks are an amalgam of devices that oſten connect to an outdated, vulnerable router. Hackers have taken advantage of this and have started probing home connections for vulnerable networking equipment that they could compromise. IoT devices are another major concern that could play a crucial role in data theſt. Tese risks can be mitigated with proper security defences


running on both endpoints and at the network level. At the technology layer, more and more automation and decision-making is offloaded to machines. Artificial intelligence and human risk analytics are just some of the technologies that have been extremely effective against threats targeting remote users. However, while extremely important, technology should go hand in hand with cyber-security awareness training and well-laid out procedures. Employees should formally go through these procedures at least once a year and take a quiz to validate their cyber-security knowledge.


Many people will have received IoT and Internet connected devices at Christmas – from doorbells to kettles to toys. What possible cyber threats do they present, and how can consumers enjoy the benefits they bring while still staying safe? Any new device connected to the home network increases its attack surface. As IoT devices are designed to be accessible outside of the home and constantly communicate with their cloud, they increase this attack surface by an order of magnitude. Any vulnerability in their firmware could allow an outside attacker to take control of the device and data or to use the vulnerable device to pivot to more important destinations in the network. Smart home enthusiasts should consider a router with built-in security, as it will help keep tabs of networked devices and probe


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them for vulnerabilities. If this is not an option, users and employees should take a quick inventory of active IoT devices in their networks and keep them up to date. If some devices are past their end of life, they should be replaced, especially when they are affected by a known, unresolved vulnerability. A good practice for users would be to move all smart “things” to their guest network, as it is isolated from the main one used by the family.


What opportunities do you see for resellers in cybersecurity in 2022? Cyber-security will remain a hot topic in 2022 and beyond, as more and more companies are accelerating digitalisation efforts started during the pandemic. Increased digitalisation and adoption of cybersecurity products will allow resellers to offer some form of managed security service to help companies improve their security posture.


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