Age of Disruption - Changing Threat Landscape

With the advent of technology and recent developments in various environments like cloud, mobile and IoT, it is imperative that we, as individuals and organizations,look beyond the current scenario. 21st Century is the age of Information.

COVID-19 has brought in various changes in the entire universe of things - be it human, social, environmental, cultural or even technological. We are now in the NEW Norm of Working from Home. Hence it is crucial that we look at measures to deepen and tighten security practices within our respective environments.

The threat landscape, per se, is changing rapidly - Just look around and see the number of devices that are connected today to our networks. Also, our workplace (which is virtual now) now demands 24*7 access to corporate resources from anywhere, to anything, on any device.

The significant shifts we are currently observing includes -

a) Massive increase in a remote workforce has changed the nature and vulnerability of our networks.

b) Threat actors are now leveraging COVID-19 and related topics for social engineering attacks.

c) Healthcare sector, government agencies and other administrative organizations are becoming increasingly vulnerable to disruptive attacks like ransomware.

Few tips and tricks to manage our dynamic work environments today -

1. Keep yourself safe by hiding your home Wi-Fi SSID. It may help in avoiding potential hackers from getting in.
2. Avoid using public Wi-Fi /Hotspots unless it’s absolutely necessary. If you need to use public WI-FI, do not perform sensitive business activities.
3. Many phishing emails are circulating pretending to be COVID-19 updates or information. Be wary of any suspicious email that may land in your inbox. Report the same internally to your security teams.
4. Create a strong password and protect your username and passwords, even from family members.
5. Ensure that the password (or passphrase) that secures your Wi-Fi network is long and complicated as well as random so that it can't be cracked by a determined hacker.
6. Make sure your computer is well secured with updated and functional anti-malware, fully patched operating systems and applications and a firewall enabled.

Since we are all in this together, let's educate ourselves and our family around working securely at our homes.

Stay Safe !!!