research organization at Fortinet . All it may take is a free game offered through an in-app email , “ and once they ’ re in , with a few lateral moves , the attacker can be on a corporate network ,” he says . In fact , FortiGuard Labs saw an average of about 600 new phishing campaigns per day during spring 2020 .
This doesn ’ t mean that all is lost for organizations , especially those that are starting to make active investments to address remote-work security . Advanced AI to evaluate incoming threats and real-time data delivered through HP Wolf Security help remote workers and IT experts stay ahead of modern security threats hitting hard and relentlessly on endpoints such as that work laptop that ’ s occasionally used by Junior .
Built across 20 years of security and research innovation , HP Wolf Security unifies all of HP ’ s endpoint security innovations to deliver comprehensive cyber-resiliency under one umbrella , helping consumers , businesses , and IT and security teams navigate ever-growing cyber risks — even ones that come through an innocent game on
Roblox .
Keeping employers and data safe While the nightmare scenario is of a takeover of the enterprise , remote workers can elevate their security measures to prevent such devastating attacks . Aaron Barr , chief technology officer for
PiiQ Media , a social media threat intelligence and risk analytics company , offers a few easy starting points . First , he suggests using a
50 %
of remote office workers say they now see their work device as their own personal device .
46 %
admit to using their work laptop for “ life admin .”
30 %
say they have let someone else use their work device .
69 %
have used their personal laptop or printer for work tasks and activities since the start of the pandemic . variety of email addresses . “ We recommend you have three or four , and segment them by how you use them : personal , financial , social media / digital services , spam ,” Barr explains . “ That way , when you get a workrelated email that comes to the email you use for Instagram or gaming , you know that it didn ’ t come in through the right account .”
Second , Barr says , is to extend and vary those pesky passwords . “ The longer your password , the harder it is to crack ,” he says . “ Most people use the same email address and password for the five-dollar Target discount spam as they do to log in to their bank , and that is horrible .” A password manager can help keep those hundreds of passwords in order , while settings on your PC or web browser can alert you to compromised passwords that are exposed , say , through a security breach of a social network .
Many companies provide a virtual private network ( VPN ) so remote workers can securely connect to company networks to send and receive files , data , and applications from anywhere . Segmenting out your home network so that one subnetwork is used only for work and another for “ life admin ” can also alleviate some work-from-home security stress . Even having separate user logins on the same PC can help build a wall between work and life , he adds .
HP ’ s Pratt believes that recalibrating the need for security against the desires of the worker requires employers to adopt a completely different model of endpoint and work-from-home security — all built on the
concept of “ zero trust ,” a set of engineering best practices devised to secure critical systems .
“ Access to work resources should be assessed based on context , such as the user , the device , the geolocation , and the security posture ,” says Pratt . Multifactor authentication is one important ingredient of zero trust , he adds .
Detection is just the beginning The best mitigation is not to put all the responsibility on the remote worker , but to ensure organizations can provide users with enhanced protection , privacy , and threat intelligence .
“ The technology of the near future should be secure by design and intelligent enough to not simply detect threats , but to contain and mitigate their impact , as well as to recover quickly in the event of a breach ,” Pratt says .
The technology of the future , in other words , sniffs out attacks before hackers get anywhere close to bringing a company down . As Christian Slater ’ s Wolf mischievously warns , “ A guy like me , given the keys to the kingdom , what ’ s the worst that could happen ?”
HP / INNOVATION / SUMMER 2021 45