In 2020, COVID-19 restrictions, lockdowns, and curfews that were conducted all around the globe made remote working models necessary for the vast majority of businesses. Afterwards, most businesses had to adopt new IT security strategies according to decentralized and more complex networks. As the number of remote employees rose, digital transformation in security was required because businesses had to secure network perimeter and the remote workers who access the corporate networks in different locations.
Additionally, remote work brought brand new security risks along, and during the pandemic, cyber criminals exploited every weak end-point in their target’s networks to gain unauthorized access and accomplish their malicious intentions. That’s why, over the past two years, there has been a drastic increase in cybercrime rates. As of 2022, the cyber threat landscape is still evolving and taking many businesses by surprise, especially the ones that aren’t prepared for cyber attacks.
Unfortunately, security risks associated with remote workers can’t be diminished completely. But, businesses can keep security risks at a minimum by securing the identities of remote workers with cutting-edge security technologies. For instance, your business can adopt Zero Trust Security to safeguard corporate network perimeter and secure identities. Here are the main solutions to secure the identities of your remote workers.
1- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Solutions
In today’s world, you can’t rely solely on passwords to secure the identities of remote workers. Most employees usually use the same password for their different accounts, and usually, they arrange simple, recognizable passwords. These kinds of passwords can be compromised rapidly. Even though you put strong password policies that give explicit directions, it isn’t enough to secure remote workers’ identities. Also, cybercriminals use techniques like credential stuffing. In this technique, cyber criminals find the password that an employee uses, and then they use the same password to access other accounts that this person has.
When your employees fall victim to credential stuffing for their work accounts, your complete network can be at risk, especially if you don’t have any necessary security tools for protecting employees’ identities. For these reasons, you can’t depend solely on passwords to permit access to your networks and resources. Multi-factor authentication tools create an extra layer of security and reduce the security risks of unauthorized access attempts.
Depending on multi-factor authentication software, these tools generally require employees to enter two or more credentials or factors into the authentication mechanisms before they are permitted to access your networks and resources. For instance, some MFA tools might send authentication SMS text message codes to verify users’ identities, while others might require in-app approvals or biometric characteristics like fingerprints, voice, face recognition, and eye iris scan.
When you implement multi-factor authentication tools on top of strong password policies, you can minimize the security risks as these tools guarantee that only your authorized employees can access your networks, applications, and assets. Lastly, MFA solutions are indispensable components for securing the identities of remote workers.
2- Identity Access Management Solutions
Implementing Identity Access Management solutions can ensure the safety of employees’ identities. Identity Access Management solutions provide the tools to police authentication and access privileges of employees for connecting your networks and reaching corporate assets and resources. IAM solutions generally include authentication tools such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), Single Sign-On (SSO), and biometrics.
With these tools, IAM solutions authenticate and secure employees’ identities. While using IAM tools, every employee has to authenticate their identities before they are permitted access. Apart from enabling secure access, IAM solutions allow IT admins to set access privileges for employees and rigidly control their access within the network perimeter.
IAM solutions seek to prevent employees from accessing sensitive areas of the network. In this regard, employees are permitted to access only the necessary resources to perform their daily duties, and tasks efficiently. In this regard, any cyber attack executed via compromised employee identities will affect a small surface area since employees aren’t permitted to access other network areas beyond their roles and duties. Lastly, IAM tools are essential components to facilitate and secure employees’ identities.
3- Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) Solution
Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is a cutting-edge security technology, and it has been gaining momentum among businesses since 2010. But, the concept of Zero Trust dates back to the beginning of the 90s. Stephen Paul Marsh studied trust as a concept that can be measured numerically in his doctoral thesis on computer security. Almost two decades after Marsh’s thesis, analyst John Kindervag developed the Zero Trust model to define the more rigid identity access control and cyber security programs within corporate systems and networks. The Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) framework is grounded on the mantra “never trust, always verify”, and adopts the principle of least privilege. This approach assumes that every user, device, and application is hostile and can’t be trusted.
In this approach, the explicit trust given to users, devices, and applications is removed from all computing systems. That’s why, every time these entities request access to corporate networks, they have to authenticate their identities first via multi-factor authentication (MFA), single sign-on (SSO), and biometric tools.
Zero Trust framework provides the best identity and access management features, and it is a great solution to secure your remote employees’ identities. Additionally, Zero Trust does more than secure identities. For example, it can secure devices and data and enable secure application and network access.
Apart from these, this framework can employ network segmentation strategies, allocate sensitive areas of the network from others, and prohibit lateral movement of users. This way, it can minimize the surface areas of potential cyber-attacks, and nobody inside the network perimeter can’t move laterally. To safeguard all of your corporate assets and build a safer work environment for remote employees, you should adopt Zero Trust Security.
Last Remarks
Nowadays, modern businesses must secure the identities of remote workers. Remote working models bring a new set of cyber security risks. That’s why your business should adopt new IT strategies to secure network perimeter and end-points. In this regard, implementing Multi-Factor Authentication, Identity Access Management, or Zero Trust Network, Access can help you secure identities and network perimeter.