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How COVID-19 threatens IT security: Cyber-threats to remote working

An unseen impact of the Coronavirus has been to ignite a revolution in remote working.

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Sure, a lot of companies offer the possibility of working from home, but it’s never been employed on such a massive scale. The number of people who have discovered they can work effectively from home in recent weeks may just have transformed the way we think about work forever. But, it must also improve the way we think about data security.

Remote working productivity applications, such as file-sharing and collaboration tools, allow geographically dispersed workers to break down the barriers of location and work as effectively as they might in an office environment.

However, the very nature of remote working exposes organisations to a broad spectrum of cyber-security issues. The influx of user-owned devices requesting access to the network, the increase in email traffic and file-sharing behaviour, even the migration of workflows to the cloud; all generate an increased risk of data breaches and expose business critical IT systems to malicious content.

As organisations, and individual users, embrace file-sharing practices that sit outside the traditional in-house IT and security teams, they need to adopt a risk-averse approach to collaboration. Next-generation productivity and file-sharing security solutions offer the ideal combination of familiarity, usability and security; without compromising on productivity.

Secure File Sharing and Collaboration

Remote workers, whether working from home or any location, often utilise unprotected, public networks. The productivity application tools used are also vulnerable to cyber-attacks. The files and data they exchange expose the organisation, employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders to a range of threats, including breaches of privacy and stolen IP. SureDrop® from Senetas is the encrypted collaboration and file sharing application that protects organisations against the negative impact of a data breach.

Because SureDrop provides seamless integration with Office 365 and Azure, it’s convenient and simple to use as well as secure. As a cloud enabled application, SureDrop and workgroup files are available everywhere, anytime. No other ‘box-like’ service enables the same level of security.

We needed a solution that people were familiar with, that could be used when builders were onsite that would allow architects to edit plans even when there was no internet connection.”

SureDrop also offers seamless integration with Votiro Disarmer, the next-generation Content Disarm & Reconstruction (CDR) solution. Because remote workers represent a point of vulnerability and are susceptible to malicious content attacks, it is essential they are protected from both known and unknown malware threats.

Conventional productivity, collaboration and anti-malware solutions fall short of the security standards required to protect modern borderless IT infrastructures. The activities of the remote workers relying upon the productivity applications provided are exposed to an increasing threat landscape.

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Sure, a lot of companies offer the possibility of working from home, but it’s never been employed on such a massive scale. The number of people who have discovered they can work effectively from home in recent weeks may just have transformed the way we think about work forever. But, it must also improve the way we think about data security to combat cyber-threats to remote working.

Remote working productivity applications, such as file-sharing and collaboration tools, allow geographically dispersed workers to break down the barriers of location and work as effectively as they might in an office environment.

However, the very nature of remote working exposes organisations to a broad spectrum of cyber-security issues. The influx of user-owned devices requesting access to the network, the increase in email traffic and file-sharing behaviour, even the migration of workflows to the cloud; all generate an increased risk of data breaches and expose business critical IT systems to malicious content.

As organisations, and individual users, embrace file-sharing practices that sit outside the traditional in-house IT and security teams, they need to adopt a risk-averse approach to collaboration. Next-generation productivity and file-sharing security solutions offer the ideal combination of familiarity, usability and security; without compromising on productivity.

An unseen impact of the Coronavirus has been to ignite a revolution in remote working.

Before SureDrop, financial and professional services organisations would rely upon email, or even hand- delivery, to share documents. Each party may then have a different version of the files, and no one could really be certain of having the latest version.

Sharing hard copy documents and other large files is inefficient. Emailing them is unsafe and often not possible due to file size limits. In every case ensuring all collaborating parties have the latest version in realtime is neither practical nor safe.

Since then, a number of ‘file sync and share’ tools have offered user-friendly solutions. But, the world of cyber-crime has rapidly developed, making the risks and the data security component critically important.

Like many enterprise and government organisations, these customers no longer allow staff access to regular drop box tools… until they found SureDrop.

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