Remote work gradually crept upwards for decades, as digital jobs replaced those that can only be conducted in person and the tech revolution enabled most office work to be carried out remotely. But it took a pandemic to shift it to the mainstream. The percentage working remotely shot up from 13% in 2020 to 27% in 2022, and it’s not likely to fall again. 

People prefer the flexibility and convenience of working remotely, but it brings drawbacks for employers, chiefly increased remote work cybersecurity risks. Remote workers can’t maintain the same level of cybersecurity as a professional on-site team. Their devices and networks are more vulnerable to attacks, and without exposure to regular reminders and trainings, their security hygiene tends to drop away and they become more susceptible to phishing attacks. 

This makes it vital to implement proactive remote work cybersecurity measures both for your company, and for all your third-party vendors. In this article, we’ll outline remote work cybersecurity risks and review the best ways to manage them, including tools such as SIEM, threat intelligence, and AI incident detection, and best practices like remote work security protocols, regular security training, and constant monitoring. 

Cyber Threats in Remote Work Environments

For hackers and malicious actors, people who work remotely can be a gift that keeps on giving. Individuals generally don’t protect their home networks or personal devices as effectively as your security team protects those at work, making them a soft target. 

They might share devices with family members, or work from locations with unsecured or poorly secured wifi networks. With weaker cybersecurity defenses and oversight, they’re vulnerable to a range of attacks, insider threats, and data breaches. 

Let’s take a closer look at the many cyber threats that arise from remote work. 

Phishing, Malware, and Ransomware Risks

Outside the secure environment of an office, workers are more vulnerable to cyber attacks like phishing, malware, ransomware, and multi-vector attacks. It’s rare for a remote worker to have advanced security measures like firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and robust endpoint protection, which help prevent these kinds of attacks. 

Because they don’t have immediate support from a professional IT team, they’re also more susceptible to social engineering attacks, like convincing emails or messages that pretend to come from legitimate sources. Additionally, remote workers rely more heavily on communication tools, which give attackers more vectors to exploit. 

Vulnerabilities of Home Networks and Personal Devices

Wifi networks at home or at local coffee shops — the remote work locations of choice — often aren’t secured, making them a soft target for hackers. The same is true for IoT devices like printers and scanners, which might have default passwords and weak or missing firewalls. 

Personal devices also generally lack advanced, or even basic, defenses. Too many remote workers share their personal devices with family members, ignore software upgrades and patches that fix known vulnerabilities, and/or don’t password-protect their device. Malicious actors find opportunities to use these networks and devices to infiltrate your systems. 

Insider Threats and Data Breaches

“Unofficial” remote work spaces like homes or coffee shops often have poor physical security measures like partitions and secure offices. Even remote work hubs tend to have large semi-public work areas. This creates opportunities for hackers to gather sensitive data or view someone’s password as they enter it. 

Personal devices are sometimes left unlocked and unmonitored for significant periods of time. Without strong access controls, there’s no way to know if a third party has entered your platforms and stolen your data or access credentials. 

Tools and Technologies for Remote Work Cybersecurity

It’s not really possible to manually monitor cybersecurity from a distance, and if you could rely on your remote workers to enforce strong cybersecurity practices, you wouldn’t be reading this article. The only effective way to combat the many and varied remote work cybersecurity threats is by using advanced cybersecurity tools.

These should include: 

  • SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) tools, which aggregate data from numerous sources to detect and respond to cyber threats in real time;
  • Network monitoring tools, which continuously scan network traffic for anomalies or suspicious activities that could indicate a cyber attack;
  • EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) monitoring tools, which focus on detecting and mitigating potential security incidents around endpoints;
  • Threat intelligence platforms, which gather real-time data about emerging threats to help you forge proactive defenses;
  • Tools that use AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) to automate anomaly detection and incident response actions. 

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

SIEM tools play an important role in improving remote work cybersecurity, thanks to their centralized log management and real-time threat detection capabilities. SIEM solutions aggregate and correlate data from various device and application logs, including those used by remote workers, to help detect anomalies, unauthorized access, and other suspicious activities. 

Additionally, these tools analyze and prioritize security alerts, enabling security teams to quickly address vulnerabilities and mitigate risks. This is particularly important in remote work environments, where increased endpoints and varied network connections can create more opportunities for cyberattacks.

Network Monitoring Tools

Network monitoring tools deliver continuous oversight of network traffic and performance, which is vital both for spotting emerging threats and maintaining optimal network performance. Robust monitoring solutions track data flow, detect anomalies, and identify potential threats in real-time across all network segments.

Constant monitoring means that you can quickly identify unusual patterns that may indicate cyberattacks, such as unauthorized access attempts, malware communication, or data exfiltration. It also enables you to notice and deal with issues like lowered bandwidth and unstable connectivity, which can compromise security and affect remote worker productivity. 

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Like network monitoring solutions, EDR tools deliver nonstop monitoring and analysis to help you spot potential threats. However, they focus specifically on endpoints like laptops, smartphones, and other devices. 

What’s more, EDR solutions can automatically apply incident response measures, like isolating the affected endpoint, carrying out detailed forensic analysis, and applying remediation actions. This is particularly important for remote work, since endpoints don’t usually have the same level of protection as on-premises devices, and security teams aren’t on hand for manual response. 

Threat Intelligence Platforms

Threat intelligence platforms collect, analyze, and disseminate threat data from various sources, including open-source feeds, private intelligence providers, and internal security data. They integrate it in a single location to gain insight into the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by cyber attackers, which enables you to develop more effective proactive cyber defenses. 

In the case of remote work environments, this means you can identify threats that are specifically designed to target remote workers and the tech they use. With better understanding of the threat landscape, you can adjust security policies and controls for increased protection and improved cyber resilience. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

With AI and ML, it’s possible to interpret the mass of data collected by various monitoring systems and to automate anomaly detection. These technologies can recognize normal behavior patterns and flag deviations that may indicate security threats, so you can address them before they escalate into serious incidents. 

AI and ML can also accelerate incident response times by automatically isolating affected endpoints, blocking malicious traffic, and initiating remediation processes as soon as they detect a threat. This minimizes potential damage and helps prevent remote work incidents from going untreated.

Best Practices for Implementing Remote Work Cybersecurity

Alongside effective remote work cybersecurity tools, you also need to implement certain best practices. These ensure that the remote cybersecurity solutions you introduce will be used to the greatest effect. Best practices include:

  • Establishing security protocols that require your entire remote workforce to meet cybersecurity standards
  • Monitoring all the access points and devices that your employees use when working remotely
  • Making regular cybersecurity training mandatory for all your remote workers

Let’s take a closer look at these best practices. 

Establishing Security Protocols for Remote Employees

The first and most basic step in remote work cybersecurity is to develop and enforce clear security policies that require remote employees to meet specific security measures. Strong password hygiene for both devices and applications, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and data encryption should be non-negotiable. 

Employees also need to keep all their work-related devices up to date with software patches and security updates. It’s best to implement a principle of least privilege, which limits employees to the data and systems that they need to complete their roles and responsibilities. 

Monitoring Employee Devices and Access Points

At the same time, you need to implement continuous monitoring solutions for all your employees’ work-related devices and access points. Endpoint monitoring tools verify compliance with your security policies, check whether updates have been installed, and detect the presence of malware or unauthorized software. 

You also need to monitor access points like VPNs, cloud services, and corporate networks for unauthorized access, and regularly audit access logs for unusual access patterns. Geolocation tracking spots if devices are used in irregular locations, and automated alerts can notify you as soon as your preset triggers are activated. 

Conducting Regular Cybersecurity Training for Remote Workers

Your employees should be fully aware of cybersecurity risks and know your security procedures, data handling policies, and incident reporting guidelines. Phishing awareness is crucial, and training should include practical phishing simulations alongside theoretical knowledge. 

You want employees to recognize malware and ransomware and know how to best respond to them, as well as understanding the importance of secure practices like strong, unique passwords, MFA, and wifi network security. It’s best to make training regular and ongoing, so that employees are kept up to date about evolving threats and you can verify their security knowledge. 

Integration of Third Party Risk Management

Implementing remote work cybersecurity practices for your own organization is not enough. It’s just as important to integrate third-party risk management (TPRM). Third-party vendors often have access to your data and systems, so an attack on their remote workers can allow malicious actors to infiltrate your business environment. 

Effective TPRM involves evaluating vendors’ remote work cybersecurity measures and the associated risks, and ensuring that third parties align with your own standards to help prevent potential breaches. This should include: 

  • Assessing the cybersecurity measures and remote work policies of third-party vendors.
  • Updating contracts to mandate compliance with your remote work cybersecurity standards.
  • Implementing remote auditing procedures to regularly check adherence to your security protocols.
  • Obligating vendors to deliver regular cybersecurity training for remote employees  
  • Enforcing strict access controls that limit vendors to necessary data and systems.
  • Collaborating with vendors to develop and test joint incident response plans.
  • Regularly reviewing and updating TPRM policies.

Assess Remote Vendor Capabilities

Start by laying down a baseline for your vendors’ remote cybersecurity levels. This gives you an idea of their current remote work security, helps you make informed decisions about how much access to grant to your sensitive data and systems, and guides you to the best ways to mitigate their remote cybersecurity risks. 

Evaluate the security practices that they use to protect their remote work infrastructure, and check their compliance with industry standards. It’s important to carry out your due diligence by sending security questionnaires, reviewing their security documentation, and checking their history of past incidents.

Update Contracts for Remote Work Compliance

Once you understand your vendors’ remote work cybersecurity practices, you can adjust the contacts you send. Third-party contracts should explicitly outline the remote security requirements and responsibilities you expect from your vendors, together with clauses addressing issues like data protection, access control, and incident reporting. 

Specify which cybersecurity standards and best practices they need to follow, including details like using VPNs, encryption, and MFA, and lay out what’s needed to demonstrate compliance. When you embed remote work cybersecurity into your contracts, you’ll establish a framework of accountability and better protect your data and systems from third-party risks. 

Remote Audit Capabilities

It’s important to develop virtual audit processes that allow you to assess and verify vendor compliance with your remote work security requirements without needing on-site visits. These processes draw on a combination of remote monitoring tools, automated compliance solutions, virtual assessments, and documentation review. 

Make sure that you establish clear criteria for your assessments before you begin, based on industry standards and internal security policies. These should be part of your contractual agreements, as mentioned above, but it’s never too late to establish them for your third parties. 

Employee Training for Vendors

Your vendors’ employees need remote work cybersecurity training just as much as your own workers. Collaborate with your third parties to develop comprehensive training programs that cover topics such as phishing awareness, secure data handling, and your specific security protocols. 

Include clauses in your contracts that mandate regular training, and check that these training experiences take place as required. Just like the training you implement for your own employees, it needs to be ongoing, so that remote workers are kept up to date with the evolving threat landscape. 

Access Control Policies

Strict access control policies are a critical element of robust TPRM and remote work cybersecurity. You want to limit the number of people who have access to your critical business systems and sensitive data, so implement role-based access controls (RBAC) on the basis of least privilege. 

At the same time, you’ll want security practices that help prevent unauthorized access. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) should be required for all third-party access points, at the very least, so that even if someone obtains access credentials, they still won’t be able to gain entry. 

Incident Response Planning

It’s impossible to completely prevent any cybersecurity incident, so you need to be ready to deal with them when they occur. It’s best to collaborate with your vendors to develop customized incident response plans, so that they’re tailored to the specific technologies, systems, and access points involved in remote work, as well as your security context. 

Your incident response plans should include clearly-defined roles and responsibilities, establish communication protocols, and lay out escalation procedures for various incident scenarios. Working together helps you assess your vendors’ incident response capabilities and identify areas that need improvement. 

Review and Update Continuously

Finally, your third-party risk management needs to stay relevant to the current threat landscape. Hackers are constantly developing new TTPs and integrating new tech into their attack strategies, so you need to keep up. 

Your remote work cybersecurity measures, those of your third parties, and your general TPRM policies need to be reviewed on a regular basis, tested where necessary, and then updated to make sure that they are effective against today’s threats. 

Remote Work Cybersecurity Solutions

Remote work is the new normal in today’s business environment, with all its attendant benefits and drawbacks. There’s no way to turn back the clock. The only option is to take steps to prevent and mitigate the risks involved. 

Robust remote work cybersecurity tools that leverage AI and ML, continuous monitoring, ongoing employee training, and strong security protocols should all be an integral part of your own cybersecurity and TPRM strategies. It takes consistent and continuous monitoring and awareness to secure your remote operations. This is where Panorays can help. 

Panorays offers an AI-powered third party cybersecurity platform that can help you close your remote work vulnerabilities. It offers AI-powered security questionnaires that include criteria relating to remote work, such as  assessing their remote work cybersecurity policies, enforcing MFA, and running ongoing employee phishing awareness training. 

The solution also evaluates compliance with your remote work cybersecurity standards, streamlines collaboration on risk remediation, and enables continuous monitoring with a dynamic Risk DNA score that reflects your vendors’ changing remote work security risk levels. 

Ready to secure your remote work attack surface and prevent third-party remote work cybersecurity issues? Contact Panorays to learn more.

Remote Work Cybersecurity FAQs