10 Tips to Protect Against Cybercrime in The Home Office | Antivirus Software

In the current situation, many companies are not only faced with the challenge of enabling their employees to work in the home office, but also of protecting these and all systems from increasing cybercrime.

A wide variety of cyberattacks have been registered since the beginning of the pandemic - from attacks on the World Health Organization (WHO) to steal information to mass phishing emails and spam campaigns targeting employees in the home office. Most recently, cyber criminals have even created websites with domain names related to Covid-19 to exploit user fears and concerns and launch ransomware attacks.

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Prevention Tips Against Cybercrime in The Home Office

Prevention is better than aftercare - this also applies to cybersecurity. Companies should consider these ten tips from A10 Networks when it comes to working from home to avoid giving cybercriminals a chance.

1. Train Employees on Cybersecurity

Provide your employees with comprehensive information on cybersecurity and home office issues and make sure that they are aware of the risk that unintentional negligent actions can endanger the security of the company. Whenever possible, ensure that company-owned devices are only used for work purposes and only to access company data. Also make sure that the latest security patches and updates are activated on the devices you are using.

2. Optimize Security Settings for E-Mails

Optimize email security settings to ensure that phishing or spam emails do not reach your employees' inboxes. Train your employees to recognize phishing emails and not click on suspicious links. Warn about phishing emails if they have gotten through the security settings.

3. Allow Access to SaaS Applications only Over the Corporate Network

Make sure that SaaS applications are only accessible to remote users via the corporate network and that they cannot access the applications directly from the Internet in the home office. With your security solutions, you get an insight into the entire data traffic that accesses your services in the cloud. Most SaaS providers allow such access to their services; however, you may need to enable some settings for this to work properly.

4. Monitor Data Traffic

Make sure to keep a close eye on all of your network traffic, especially SaaS traffic. Data leaks can be a real threat during a crisis. Also, check that unauthorized data transfers are not taking place under the guise of remote work .

5. Set up Access Controls

If possible, ensure access control to avoid data leaks or unlawful data access. Purchase or enable Data Loss Prevention (DLP) features provided by your SaaS providers for additional data protection.

6. Access to Corporate Networks only Via VPN

Make sure that all of your employees who access your corporate network are using VPNs . Without VPN access, no employee should be able to view company data.

7. Use TLS / SSL Inspection Solutions

If you already have a dedicated TLS / SSL inspection solution that you haven't already installed, now is the time to deploy it so you don't miss out on encrypted attacks or data leaks. Be aware that most online traffic is encrypted and you cannot stop encrypted attacks without proper decryption. If you do not yet have a TLS / SSL inspection solution, but Next Generation Firewalls (NGFW) that can decrypt TLS / SSL data traffic, activate the function temporarily while you are evaluating your individual decryption strategy. This will likely slow down your network, but it can prevent encrypted attacks.

8. Use Comprehensive DDoS Protection Solution

If you have a DDoS protection solution, analyze it carefully and re-evaluate your configurations and strategies. If you are not yet using a DDoS protection solution, analyze the benefits it could bring to your company.

9. Use of Centralized Administration and Analysis Solutions

If you have a centralized management and analytics solution, make sure you keep an eye on it. Make sure your analytics solutions can track shadow IT. If you follow all of these tips, tracking down unauthorized use of applications can be made easier.

10. Implement Zero Trust

To ensure comprehensive security for the company, you should practice Zero Trust and ensure that no user has access to data that he does not depend on for his daily work. Make sure that there are uniform security guidelines at all locations so that no security gaps can arise.