Is it Time for a Zero Trust Security Strategy?

For months, the COVID-19 pandemic has turned the way we work upside down. Hackers have increased attacks on financial institutions, healthcare organizations, and more. And many workers -- who are lucky not to have been laid-off -- have been working from home.

Many of them are using their own devices and personal networks, which are not as secure as their companies’ systems and connections. Endpoint security has never been more vulnerable.

It’s a perfect storm for cyber-criminals seeking access to sensitive data of commercial value.

Even before the pandemic began, experts were warning that it was time for “Zero Trust Security.”

“Never trust, always verify,” Forbes Magazine warns. “The conventional notion of the enterprise perimeter—imagining it as one big bubble to be protected—is now thoroughly outdated in a world where infiltration can be accomplished via a staggering number of devices and applications, either already in the network or soon to join it.”

Simply put, Zero Trust means a security strategy that trusts nothing inside or outside of the network.

Too Many Problems to Ignore

Experts say the vulnerabilities are many. They include:

Unreliable Infrastructure 

Most enterprise VPN infrastructures were built to allow about 20 percent of a remote workforce to access certain applications. Now they are being forced to handle 80 to 90 percent. VPNs allow an employee full access to company information once they have been authenticated on the network. Doing this from off-site heightens the chance of unauthorized access to infrastructure and applications.

Endpoint Vulnerabilities

Employees are using personal devices that might not have the same level of security as corporate endpoints.

Phishing and Ransomware Attack

The pandemic has led to a significant rise in phishing attacks and social engineering scams. Attackers use Covid-19 themes to trick users into clicking on malicious links that spread ransomware.

Focus on Zero-Trust Solutions

Emerge IT Services can conduct a review of your network and off-site users and recommend the best solutions to meet your needs. Options might include:

• Micro-segmentation allows you to separate physical networks into hundreds or thousands of logical micro-networks, or micro-segments.  Each microsegment is protected, and only an authorized user can access it.

• Encryption of traffic is key to a strong security protocol.

• A multi-step authentication process will help ensure that the information is shared only with the intended user.

• Ongoing monitoring and patch management are essential to any network security plan.

• Implementing technology that creates a peer-to-peer network between endpoints can free up the load on the VPNs while granting access on a realistic business-need basis.

Call an Expert

Emerge offers a list of security services that include: risk assessment, endpoint security, firewalls and VPN service, email security, disaster recovery plans, data backup and restoration, incident investigation, security awareness training, vulnerability audits, intrusion detection and prevention, and a lot more.

We can also make sure that you are up-to-date with regulatory compliance.

To learn more about how Emerge can assess your company’s needs and design a protection plan for your network, give us a call at 859-746-1030.