It’s easy to pinpoint when the global health crisis forever changed the security landscape. All of a sudden, at exactly the same time, the workforces of entire organizations went remote. And so did the technology teams supporting them.
It’s clear that most organizations won’t be returning to office-based working on the same level as before. And just as users are increasingly dispersed, so are the resources they use: on servers in the office; in cloud-based applications like Office 365 or Salesforce; and in private or public cloud environments on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.
IT teams are being tasked to protect what we’re calling “the Anywhere Organization”: where people can work securely from any location, using any device, and accessing resources wherever they’re held.
3 steps to protect the Anywhere Organization
You wouldn’t bolt your front door but leave your back door unlocked and assume that your home is secure. The same goes for cybersecurity. You need to protect all locations, devices, and resources.
Secure connectivity
Whether employees are logging in from home office setups, at a corporate office, visiting a client, or using a hotel Wi-Fi halfway across the globe, they need to be able to connect securely.
VPN is a tried and trusted approach that has enabled users to connect remotely for years. It was a savior at the beginning of the pandemic, allowing organizations to quickly pivot to secure remote working in just days.
Many organizations are starting to want more than VPN was ever designed to deliver. Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is a great alternative to remote access VPN. It enables users to easily connect to corporate resources from any location while also enhancing your security by constantly verifying the user and validating the health and compliance of the device.
Protect all devices
For today’s Anywhere Organization, protection must work on any device or platform your employees may need to use desktops, laptops, mobile devices, Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, Chromebook, and iOS.
The most devastating cyber threats involve human-led attacks, often exploiting legitimate tools and processes such as PowerShell. Hands-on, live hacking enables attackers to bypass security products and protocols by modifying their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs).
Stopping these human-led attacks requires human-led threat hunting. Either look for an EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) solution that gives you the tools you need to perform threat hunts from the same console used to manage your endpoint protection, or bring in the experts via a Managed Detection and Response service.
Secure all resources
When it comes to securing the Anywhere Organization, it’s essential to protect the data and workloads your people need to use, while simultaneously securing the networks they’re on.
You may be running servers on-premises, consuming cloud-based applications, or hosting resources in private and public cloud environments on AWS, Azure, or GCP. Most likely, you’re doing all of the above. Whatever your unique situation, you need:
- Next-gen server protection for your cloud, on-premises, or hybrid workload environments.
- Powerful gateway protection with a firewall that secures cloud-based and on-premises environments.
Time to make lemonade
An old adage says, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” And that’s pretty much what the corporate enterprise is doing by adopting the Anywhere Organization trend.
It’s proving out that remote working is a win-win for companies and staff alike in terms of greater productivity and reduced operational costs.
Sophos can help you with all three pillars of secure remote working: secure connectivity, protected devices, and secure resources.
Plus we also make life easier for busy (and often remote) IT teams too: all Sophos protection can be managed through our Sophos Central platform. In fact, customers running a Sophos security system consistently report a 50% reduction in IT workload.
To learn more about how Sophos can help you with secure remote working read our solution brief, Securing the Anywhere Organization.
Coming next in our 5-part blog series: Remote workforce? Offer secure connectivity from any location