{"id":4251,"date":"2021-03-10T07:49:39","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T12:49:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stratospherenetworks.com\/blog\/?p=4251"},"modified":"2021-03-09T17:57:34","modified_gmt":"2021-03-09T22:57:34","slug":"wfh-could-cost-you-if-you-dont-update-your-security-awareness-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stratospherenetworks.com\/blog\/wfh-could-cost-you-if-you-dont-update-your-security-awareness-training\/","title":{"rendered":"WFH Could Cost You If You Don’t Update Your Security Awareness Training"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AThe mass migration to\u00a0working from home<\/a>\u00a0last year had a huge impact on the world in various ways, as office buildings emptied out and newly remote employees adjusted to less time spent commuting and more time spent in sweatpants. Unfortunately, the transition to remote work arrangements also inspired a\u00a0staggering amount of cybercrime<\/a>\u00a0as hackers sought to take advantage of new attack surfaces. The traditional security perimeter has disappeared as businesses must now assure that staff members accessing corporate apps and data from various locations utilize secure connections and devices.<\/p>\n

If all or some of your staff members currently work from home (or any site other than the office), you must adjust your cybersecurity strategy to address the new vulnerabilities created by remote work infrastructure. That includes not only the\u00a0solutions and services<\/a>\u00a0you deploy to protect your network but also your approach to security awareness training.<\/p>\n

Why Remote Work Means More Risk<\/h2>\n

As many companies instructed their employees to do their jobs from home last year, they didn’t update their cybersecurity strategies to account for the new risks and vulnerabilities presented by remote work. A June 2020 survey of people in the U.S. who had recently transitioned to working from home found that more than half still hadn’t received new security policies concerning how to perform their professional duties securely, according to\u00a0IBM Security’s Work From Home Study<\/a>. Additionally, 53 percent reported using personal computers and laptops to work from home, and 61 percent said their employers hadn’t distributed tools to properly secure those devices.<\/p>\n

In the same vein, a\u00a02020 Malwarebytes survey<\/a>\u00a0of cybersecurity and IT leaders at businesses of various sizes found that 44 percent of organizations didn’t offer security training that addressed the risks associated with working from home, such as failing to set strong passwords and sharing devices with unauthorized users. Five percent of the survey respondents described their employees as oblivious to best practices, and 20 percent had experienced a data breach caused by a remote employee.<\/p>\n

Failing to adequately train distributed teams and address the possible pitfalls of working from home in the realm of data security can be a costly mistake. The global average cost of a data breach was $3.86 million in 2020 \u2013 and remote work has an average impact of $137,000, according to\u00a0IBM Security’s Cost of a Data Breach Report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While implementing solutions like\u00a0secure access service edge (SASE)<\/a> can make a big difference, the most advanced tools in the world can’t save you if your team is uninformed.\u00a0Ultimately, it’s better for not only your bottom line but also your reputation to proactively educate your end users on how to combat cybersecurity threats and minimize vulnerabilities while working in settings other than the office.
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How to Adjust Your Security Awareness Training to Combat New Vulnerabilities<\/h2>\n

To keep your data breach risk level as low as possible while some or all of your staff members work from home, be sure to address these potential vulnerabilities and best practices in your training program.<\/p>\n