In the difficult time of the coronavirus pandemic around the world, as well as in other contingency situations, scammers are more active. The nervous environment and pressure of external circumstances is their greatest ally. Employees of many companies are switched to remote work mode, that is, outside the security perimeter of organizations. In such a situation, vigilance is reduced as well as protection from cyberthreats. Doctors advise to follow the rules of anti-viral hygiene, and Roskatchestvo Digital Expertise Center reminds basic rules of digital hygiene to make remote work calm and safe.
The main threats during the COVID-19 pandemic:
– Increased number of fraudulent pseudo-paid services: video conferencing platforms, online education, online movie theater subscriptions, fake mobile food delivery apps, etc.d.
– Increased risk of espionage attacks.
– Increase in the number of targeted attacks on employees in the financial industry.
– Increased fraudulent activity towards the elderly: home delivery of goods, offering medications and tests for COVID-19, etc.
– Increase in the number of insider attacks using employees.
– increase in fraudulent activities in the travel industry refund centers for airlines, hotels, etc. .d. .
Cybersecurity experts predict an increase in the number of cyber attacks on computers, equipment routers, video cameras and unprotected home networks of employees of companies that have switched to remote work mode because of the coronavirus. According to Ilya Sachkov, CEO and founder of Group-IB, employees of financial institutions, telecom operators and IT-companies are at risk, and the target of cyber attacks will be stealing money or personal data. But this does not mean that only employees of IT-companies, banking and telecom-sectors can become victims of fraudsters. Everyone should be cautious.
There are known examples when the initial entry point of fraudsters was exactly an employee on a “remote” – for example, in 2017, cybercriminals penetrated a American bank by attacking a system administrator who was accessing the bank’s servers from his home computer.
Unfortunately, installing antivirus software is not a sufficient data protection measure. Fraudsters have long ago learned to use social engineering techniques, against which no anti-virus or sysadmin can help. Attackers can send phishing emails using malicious topics news and orders regarding coronavirus, compensation, cancellation of business trips, etc.d. , attack RDP remote desktop protocol , compromise home equipment – routers or video cameras. And they can work pinpoint, contacting you directly and getting all the information you need.
Despite the numerous tips on how to establish a secure channel, there is a high risk of misconfigured VPN connection, when the employee’s home computer is outside the perimeter protection means of the company, but VPN will be set at once with the critical segments of the corporate network.
At the same time, organizations’ shift to remote working will result in responsible employees not being able to respond to threats from home in a timely and coordinated manner, which is likely to lead to an increase in successful attacks.
Recommendations for secure remote work from the Roskatchestvo Center for Digital Expertise
1 Be careful and cautious with your email – don’t open suspicious attachments in archives, don’t click on suspicious links. Be cautious about requests to transfer any files – make sure it is not an email from a scammer, but a real request from your colleague. Contact your correspondent to see if the email is his. Remember, scammers cleverly use social engineering techniques.
2 Use only your work email, not your personal email, even if you work from home. Be especially careful about emails sent from domains that don’t belong to your organization. It could be intruders posing as your co-worker. Don’t look at the name and signature – check the return address.
3 Use Wi-Fi with the highest possible level of encryption and a strong password to connect to the network.
4 Use corporate cloud services to collaborate on documents. If you don’t have one and use arbitrary file storage, set up accesses carefully and make sure you don’t mistakenly make a document available to the entire Internet or to someone on your contact list who is not related to your organization.
Continue to adhere to basic digital security principles:
1 Don’t follow unverified links from messages and text messages in social networks.
2 Only install programs and applications from official sources.
3 Use antivirus.
4 Use different passwords on different Internet resources. Compose only complex passwords of different-case letters, symbols and numbers. Where possible, use two-factor authentication.
“Make sure your family members follow digital hygiene practices as well. This is especially important if you use the same devices. A child can accidentally install malware on his computer, which will make it difficult for the parent to work remotely,” said Anton Kukanov, head of Roskachevo’s Digital Expertise Center.
Roskachestvo experts explain how to work effectively from home
Under conditions of high information load and stress it can be hard for a person to remember certain facts and what he or she needs to do and when. While in the past you could get by with notes and reminders in your calendar, today’s full-fledged “Task Managers” come to the rescue. Roskachevo recommends paying attention to the rating of task managers and choose the right one to successfully cope with all the flow of tasks in remote work mode. As a reminder, the best “task managers” are: iOS TickTick, Todoist, 2Do – Todo List Android Todoist, TickTick, MyLifeOrganized.
To work efficiently, it’s best to follow the daily routine you followed before the isolation – if you worked from 9 a.m., it’s best to be at your computer by this time and not indulge yourself in sleeping in before lunch or a long breakfast. Try not to put off difficult tasks “for later”, be for yourself that strict supervisor who controlled you in the office.
5 recommendations on how to make working from home comfortable and efficient
1. Carefully prepare your workplace. A large and clean work surface where you can place your computer, put your wrists and therefore take the right position. Prepare a stable chair of the right height and set up the right lighting.
2. Take a break. At least once an hour, get up, stretch, and change positions. Limit your time on the couch or in bed to a minimum.
3. Drink water. Drinking 1.5 to 2 liters of water a day there are apps to help you keep track of this will help keep your body in balance. Just don’t overdo it with the coffee.
4. Carve out time for lunch. Take your time with your meals, choose healthy foods, and set aside time to work while you eat. Resist the temptation of frequent snacking. Snack in the first half and middle of the day and better choose yogurt or fruit.
5. Remember to be physically active. There are free apps with proper exercise classes that you can do in a very limited space stretching, yoga, small workouts for different muscle groups, etc. .d.
“The most important thing is not to panic and realize that this situation is temporary, which means you need to maintain your usual routine. Working from home gives you an opportunity to get enough sleep without wasting time getting to the office, to eat right, to complete current work tasks faster in a quieter home environment and to spend more time with your family,” says Ilya Loevsky, deputy head of Roskatchestvo.
How can one effectively manage work remotely in a secure and efficient manner during home quarantine? What are the best practices or tools to ensure data confidentiality and productivity while working from home?