As we enter 2022, all the signs indicate that hybrid working is here to stay. According to the Director of Google Workspace Asia Pacific, nearly 43% of people find themselves in a hybrid work arrangement compared to the days before the pandemic when 78% of people did not have remote days of work a week.
There is no doubt that many benefit from a ‘best in both worlds’ approach to work – including bad actors. In fact, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) reported that four of the most targeted vulnerabilities in 2020 affected remote work, VPNs, or cloud-based technologies.
This concern was exacerbated by a recent EY report that revealed that 56% of businesses in APAC admit to avoiding digital protection measures to implement new requirements for flexible arrangements in employment, despite 48% expressing increased concern about their company’s ability to manage security threats.
So what can be done to best protect today’s distributed workforce that relies on multiple cloud-based applications, often on their own unmanaged devices?
Source: Duo Security
Install a Flexible VPN Alternative: Zero-Trust Network Access
Previously, employees trained in handling VPN connectivity from a remote laptop could dial into enterprise systems through a VPN client and were given virtually carte blanche access to roam across enterprise systems. But that approach has great faith on the part of the employer.
For example, by practicing this technique, how will they know that the person accessing remotely is really telling them they are? And are their device (s) as up-to-date and malware-free as possible? The truth is in today’s distributed and mobile world you can’t. Or more accurately, you can’t when relying on VPNs alone.
There are many resources out there that explain alternatives to relying on VPN, which still prioritize safety, security and speed-perfect for today’s fast-moving businesses. (Start with this recommended webinar.)
As market research firm Gartner said “as more organizations move to remote work, zero-trust network access (ZTNA) has aroused the interest of organizations looking for more flexible alternatives to VPNs and to those seeking more accurate access and session control to applications located in the area. and in the cloud ”.
Zero-trust network access (ZTNA) technologies today can dictate a granular approach of who or what is allowed to access which resources, which privileges. The tech verifies the user whenever any application is requested, and verifies the device whenever it tries to access an application.
More importantly, ZTNA also provides a better user experience, especially when accessing Web apps, since not all the hundreds and thousands of users from an organization are crammed into corporate VPN. at once.
But as Tech Wire Asia readers will know, no two solutions are created equal, so what should you look for when choosing the right VPN-less secure remote access solution for your organization?
Source: Duo Security
Be Flexible and Stay One Step
Hybrid working is not the only trend that has emerged from the pandemic. The great resignation has also filled many inches of space in the business press over the past few months. The real truth is that you may find yourself with more new beginners and recent quits than usual, so it’s important that the ZTNA solution you choose is easily scalable to get onboard and eliminate them properly and secure as possible.
The solution also needs to support unmanaged devices for either salaries or 3rd party employees. This is because 49% of enterprise devices are used without any managed update policy and approximately 40% of the organizations surveyed said they experienced a mobile-related compromise.
The final key factor is that your ZTNA solution needs to support many types of applications, especially those frequently used by employees. These are, incidentally, some of the most heavily targeted by opponents:
-Web-based applications are primarily targeted, such as Salesforce, Google Workspace, ServiceNow, Workday, Box, and more.
-Secure Shell access to enterprise systems (SSH) that gives users, specifically system administrators, a secure way to access remote servers on public networks.
-Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is still commonly used which allows remote control of internal desktops from remote locations.
There is a useful guide to remote access protocols, their pros and cons, and some of the technologies behind them are available right here.
Duo Network Gateway
For CISOs, security teams and IT professionals in any organization, in any industry, anywhere in the world, the Duo Network Gateway remote access proxy allows employees, remote workers and contractors to access on- premise website, web application, RDP desktop and SSH services.
Duo Network Gateway provides a consistent user log-in process and secure verification across all applications, reducing password stress and increasing user productivity. Security doesn’t have to be a compromise: in fact, refreshing the ways your company provides external access to employees and 3rd parties can improve your overall cybersecurity provision. For more information, see this content (unified) for more information.