Cybersecurity doorways left ajar in the race to remote work
SailPoint Technologies Holdings, Inc. released an international study revealing security pitfalls that stem from remote work. The human workforce always comes with a certain security risk level, as hackers continue to target humans as the enterprise's weak link. Yet, with the COVID-19 shutdowns, and the subsequent need to enable remote work by opening up access to entire workforces, many organizations inadvertently opened the door to expansive risk. The survey uncovered several security threats with every worker whose access was freely granted without proper security controls in place, including phishing attempts, using personal devices for work and vice versa, and sharing passwords with friends and family.
"When the pandemic began, businesses had to flip a switch to enable remote work nearly overnight. In this rush, many companies focused on granting access, skipping over the securing of that access. This resulted in an explosion of unsecured technology access across the business," said Juliette Rizkallah, CMO, SailPoint. "You cannot do business today without technology, and you cannot securely use technology without identity security. Companies are recognizing how foundational identity security is to their business as we continue to work from home. Those who had identity security in place were set up for success, while those without strong identity security programs found themselves in an unexpected risk management time crunch."