Five Remote Access Security Risks And How To Protect Against Them
- Weak remote access policies. Once attackers get access to a virtual private network (VPN), they can often penetrate...
- A deluge of new devices to protect. Global “stay at home” policies have forced many organizations to purchase and...
- Lack of visibility into remote user activity. With the sudden...
What are the risks of remote access services?
Remote Access Risks The overriding risk of remote access services and software is a hacker gaining deeper access to your organization, exposing you to a host of IT security threats. Once they gain privileged access to your system, it will be difficult to prevent data loss, prevent phishing, protect against ransomware, etc.
What is secure remote access and how does it work?
Secure remote access refers to any security policy, solution, strategy or process that exists to prevent unauthorized access to your network, its resources, or any confidential or sensitive data. Essentially, secure remote access is a mix of security strategies and not necessarily one specific technology like a VPN.
What are the advantages of remote access?
What is remote computer access? 1 The ability to troubleshoot quickly. 2 Easy monitoring and control of devices connected to the same network. 3 Efficient file-sharing. 4 The ability of your device to mirror the original device, including files and applications.
What are the disadvantages of remote access client devices?
Remote Access Vulnerabilities Remote access client devices generally have weaker protection than standard client devices Many devices not managed by the enterprise No enterprise firewalls, antivirus, etc. Lack of physical security controls Remote access client devices may be used in hostile environments but not configured for them
What are the security risks of remote access?
Many remote access security risks abound, but below is a list of the ones that jump out.Lack of information. ... Password sharing. ... Software. ... Personal devices. ... Patching. ... Vulnerable backups. ... Device hygiene. ... Phishing attacks.
Is remote access security secure?
Yes. A robust cloud-based, highly secure remote access solution can provide unified protection for virtually all users against web-based threats — independent of a VPN connection.
What is remote access in cyber security?
Secure Remote Access is a combination of security processes or solutions that are designed to prevent unauthorized access to an organization's digital assets and prevent the loss of sensitive data.
What security issues could happen while working remotely?
Zero-day attacks (viruses taking advantage of security flaws before they are patched) Malware, spyware, and viruses. Trojans and worms. Phishing scams, including those sent via email.
Why is remote access important?
Remote access enables remote users to access files and other system resources on any devices or servers that are connected to the network at any time. This increases employee productivity and enables employees to better collaborate with colleagues around the world.
Why is secure remote access important?
A secure remote access system protects your employees from web-based threats such as phishing attacks, ransomware and malware while they're logged in to your company's network. These cyber incidents can lead to unauthorized access and use of both the company's business data and the employee's personal data.
How do I make remote access secure?
Basic Security Tips for Remote DesktopUse strong passwords.Use Two-factor authentication.Update your software.Restrict access using firewalls.Enable Network Level Authentication.Limit users who can log in using Remote Desktop.
What are the types of remote access?
The primary remote access protocols in use today are the Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP), Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE), Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), Remote Access Services (RAS), and Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).
What is remote access examples?
Accessing, writing to and reading from, files that are not local to a computer can be considered remote access. For example, storing and access files in the cloud grants remote access to a network that stores those files. Examples of include services such as Dropbox, Microsoft One Drive, and Google Drive.
Does remote working increases cyber security risks?
Reports and research on the habits of organizations embracing remote or hybrid work continue to shed light on the inherent cybersecurity risks, including a recent Tenable study that found 74% of organizations attribute recent business-impacting cyberattacks to remote work tech vulnerabilities.
What is the greatest risk that remote access poses to an organization?
The overriding risk of remote access services and software is a hacker gaining deeper access to your organization, exposing you to a host of IT security threats. Once they gain privileged access to your system, it will be difficult to prevent data loss, prevent phishing, protect against ransomware, etc.
How do you protect and secure data while working remotely?
How to promote data security while working remotelyConnect to a hotspot or use a VPN. ... Use strong passwords and a password manager. ... Keep work and personal separate. ... Stay alert for phishing or other attacks. ... Participate in routine cybersecurity training.
How do I make remote access secure?
Basic Security Tips for Remote DesktopUse strong passwords.Use Two-factor authentication.Update your software.Restrict access using firewalls.Enable Network Level Authentication.Limit users who can log in using Remote Desktop.
Is Google remote access secure?
Is Chrome Remote Desktop secure? While remote desktop software comes with inherent risks, Chrome Remote Desktop is safe and secure. Its remote sessions use AES computer encryption through a secure SSL connection, protecting your data while you remotely access your computer.
Is RDP more secure than VPN?
Security. Although both VPN and RDP are encrypted through internet connection, a VPN connection is less accessible to threats than a remote desktop connection. For this reason, VPN is often considered more secure than RDP.
Why is RDP so insecure?
Weak user sign-in credentials. The problem is that the same password is often used for RDP remote logins as well. Companies do not typically manage these passwords to ensure their strength, and they often leave these remote connections open to brute force or credential stuffing attacks.
Why is remote access important?
Remote access software is helpful when you’re in a meeting at another office with your laptop — or telecommuting — and need an important file that’s on your office computer. Remote computer access can help you assist someone in your personal life who might be far away.
How to protect your network from remote access?
You should set up firewalls to restrict access using software or hardware or both.
What is remote computer access?
Many people take their laptops with them to do things like finish a business presentation while waiting for a flight at the airport. But a lot of those laptops may not have bigger, important files on them. You might leave those files at work or at home on your desktop computer.
How to protect remote desktop from hackers?
Use a secure Virtual Private Network (VPN). If you set up a VPN, your remote desktop server won’t be connected directly to the internet. It will only be exposed on your local network, which could leave it less vulnerable to hackers.
What is remote access software?
Remote computer access software lets you access networks and computers remotely. It can enable file sharing. It’s like having a remote control for a computer or system that isn’t near you. You’ll be able to remotely download files and applications from your desktop or another person’s computer onto your laptop or your cell phone. Remote access also gives you control over that remote device
Why is it important to limit the number of users who can log in?
Remote computer access can help businesses, individuals, and families in a variety of ways. But it’s important to make remote access secure .
How to protect your computer when using remote access?
Here are some steps you can take to help protect your computer and data while relying on remote access. Maintain strong passwords.
The impact on IT
Remote work, security and cloud are priorities: IT budgets will prioritize three things in the coming year: remote management (58.4%), security (55.9%), and cloud services (50.1%).
Remote work security practices and concerns
Wasting money on managing users’ identities: 62% say they pay for more tooling than they need to manage user identities and 56% of respondents said they are spending too much to enable remote work.
The critical role of MSPs
IT admins turn to MSPs in droves: 84% of respondents said they have already or plan to engage an MSP. 34% engaged an MSP to completely manage the IT stack; 30% engaged an MSP to support internal IT teams/individuals; and 21% said they are exploring what an MSP can do to better support IT.
Women in IT
Millennial women are paid well in IT: For most age groups, the salary gender gap is close and within the 3% margin of error. The exception is women 35-44 years old who are getting paid more than men (6% more on average).
Why is remote access important?
Remote access has helped businesses function for decades. It makes it possible for mobile and dispersed workforces, including employees, contractors, partners, and vendors, to access corporate IT systems and data from anywhere, anytime.
Why do organizations need VPNs?
Organizations that maintain their assets and systems within the corporate network (as opposed to cloud based systems that can be accessed directly from the Internet) need to get their employees to use VPNs for remote access. VPNs extend a private (corporate) network across a public network (internet). They enable users to send and receive data as if their devices were directly connected to the corporate network, and create a secure tunnel by using data encryption during the connection.
How to mitigate remote access risks?
Choosing a firewall that matches the size, scope, and scale of your organization is an essential first step in mitigating remote access risks. Make sure your firewall has built-in antivirus and anti-malware software and high availability programs.
What is the overriding risk of remote access services and software?
The overriding risk of remote access services and software is a hacker gaining deeper access to your organization, exposing you to a host of IT security threats.
What is Remote Access?
Remote access is simply the ability to access a computer or network, at home or in an office, from a remote location.
What are some practices that end point users engage in?
Connecting to an unsecured Wi-Fi network, visiting malicious sites, and downloading hazardous software are practices that many end point users engage in – making a man-in-the-middle attack and other hacking methods for infecting your computer very easy.
Why do companies provide work specific computers?
Some companies provide their employees with work-specific computers that are closely managed and tightly locked down. This is a great practice for enhanced security.
What is shadow IT risk?
On top of that, be aware of employees downloading or installing any information or software without your permission – also known as shadow IT risks.
Can antivirus stop hackers?
Most consumer-ready antivirus products won’t stop sophisticated hackers targeting your organization – which is what most home computers are running.
Why are VPNs so secure?
While VPNs provide traffic encryption and user authentication, they still present a security risk because they grant access to the entire network without the option of controlling granular user access to specific resources. There is no scrutiny of the security posture of the connecting device, which could allow malware to enter the network. To maintain proper security, traffic must be routed through a security stack at the VPN’s terminus on the network. In addition to inefficient routing and increased network latency, this can result in having to purchase, deploy, monitor, and maintain security stacks at multiple sites to decentralize the security load. Simply put, VPNs are a challenge – an expensive one at that – when it comes to remote access security.
What is a SASE network?
SASE converges Zero Trust Network Access, NextGen firewall (NGFW), and other security services along with network services such as SD-WAN, WAN optimization, and bandwidth aggregation into a cloud-native platform. Enterprises that leverage a SASE networking architecture receive the benefits of ZTNA, plus a full suite of converged network and security solutions that is both simple to manage and highly-scalable. The Cato SASE solution provides all this in a cloud-native platform.
What are the security considerations when deploying a remote access solution?
Security considerations are always a major issue when deploying a remote access solution, and the difficulties are compounded when solutions must include support for embedded systems. Successful implementations must provide effective authentication and access control, and care must also be taken to ensure that data is secured during transport over the network.
What is additional consideration when target devices are hosted as guests on remote networks administered by others?
In such cases particular care must be taken to ensure that your systems do not open the hosting network to outside threats.
What is machine to machine remote management?
One commercial offering that addresses these challenges is a machine-to-machine remote management device capable of providing easy yet secure remote Internet access to IP-enabled equipment– even when such equipment is located behind remote firewalls or a VPN. Readily adaptable to a wide range of management tasks, such devices are suited for accessing and managing embedded systems located on remote customer networks. They are also appropriate where support staff do not have administrator privileges on the remote network.
What is network based access control?
Network-based access controls are used to ensure that only authorized hosts are allowed to establish connections to your networked devices. Such access control usually takes the form of Firewalls that may work at Layer 2 (also referred to as the data link layer in the OSI Seven Layer Networking Model) or Layer 3 (the network layer).
Does firewall technology help with external threats?
The success of firewall technology in addressing external network threats did not come without a price – universal deployment of firewalls has greatly aggravated the difficulty of providing remote access to network devices.
Is network security based on technology?
Effective network security is not based on any one technology or component; it is most successful when it is built up using a layered approach, following the OSI Seven Layer Networking Model, with multiple defenses contributing to the overall solution. Here we review some common technologies for developing secure remote access solutions, along with some of the real-world challenges faced. We will also examine one commercial offering that addresses these challenges in an innovative and cost-effect way.
Is network security attainable?
With multiple defenses contributing to the overall solution, effective network security is attainable. Investigate the layered approach. With care, it is possible to provide effective, secure network access to remote access deployments, enabling new service models and increasing customer capabilities.
What is secure remote access?
Secure remote access refers to any security policy, solution, strategy or process that exists to prevent unauthorized access to your network, its resources, or any confidential or sensitive data. Essentially, secure remote access is a mix of security strategies and not necessarily one specific technology like a VPN.
What technologies are used for secure remote access?
Secure remote access is comprised of a multitude of security solutions and technologies. Some of the most prominent include the following:
Secure remote access solution
Enables employees with precise access to the applications and data required to do their job from anywhere.
Why is secure remote access important?
With the work from home shift in the workforce, endpoints are accessing corporate networks from multiple locations. Today, employees’ home networks are often the originating point for network connections, multiplying the risk on both home and corporate networks.
What are the benefits of secure remote access?
While the benefits of secure remote access are numerous, there are four key advantages in which to focus on:
Can secure remote access be achieved without VPN?
Yes. A robust cloud-based, highly secure remote access solution can provide unified protection for virtually all users against web-based threats — independent of a VPN connection.
How can AT&T help organizations with secure remote access?
AT&T Cybersecurity is uniquely positioned to help organizations address these immediate challenges with an eye toward the future by helping them balance connectivity, collaboration, and cybersecurity affordably.
How to combat network security threats?
In order to combat these threats, companies must be hardening network security to the best of their ability—the best way to do this is to have a risk audit conducted to understand vulnerabilities and have an expert lay out a strategy for solution and policy implementation, as well as ongoing support for business security.
How can bad actors gain access to a network?
Bad actors can gain access to a network through several vectors, like a virtual terminal connection, administrative connection, auxiliary line, or console line .
What Does Hardening Network Security Mean?
When we talk about hardening network security, we’re talking about reducing what is referred to as an “attack surface” so that bad actors have the smallest chance of gaining unauthorized access to a network environment.
What devices do cybercriminals target?
Traditionally, cybercriminals and hackers have sought to target conventional endpoints, which can generally be thought of as devices like laptops and computers.
What is managed security service provider?
The services of a managed security service provider (MSSP) are useful in this regard. They will conduct a risk audit, which uncovers vulnerable endpoints in the network while also using white-hat hackers to perform mock penetrations and act the part of a hacker to determine the most likely avenues of attack.
What is the most common demand for SMBs today?
Managed security services are the most common demand for SMBs today, receiving more investment ( 20% market share) than any other cybersecurity market (Network security, 16%; Integration services, 14%).
Why is it important to take precautions when attempting to attack a device?
Because there are so many ways to access devices on a network, it’s recommended that organizations take certain precautions in order to reduce their attack surface and protect themselves from malicious actors.