47 Finance Monthly. Bank i ng & F i nanc i a l Se r v i ce s error an increasing cause of data breaches. Findings from Sophos revealed that even though the number of ransomware attacks has actually decreased over the past year, the average recovery cost has more than doubled to $1.85 million. The mobility of hybrid workers has prompted cyber criminals to shift their attention “from larger scale, generic, automated attacks to more targeted attacks that include human hands-on-keyboard hacking.” Ransomware is not the only threat, of course. Today, there is a wide range of attack methods that need to be considered and resisted. SonicWall’s Cyber Threat Report recently recorded 56.9 million IoT attacks, 5.6 billion malware attacks, and 4.8 trillion intrusion attempts. This helps to explain why, according to Dynabook, over one-third of Europe’s IT leaders pinpointed network or device security as the most difficult element of their IT infrastructure to manage during the pandemic. Securing the mobile workforce So how can organisations secure the data of their increasingly mobile workforce? It begins with protecting the front-line by equipping employees with robust devices that meet the high level of security required today. Biometric tools including two-factor authentication offer a strong first line of defence, for example, combining fingerprint and iris detection to restrict entry to a device. Yet it’s also important to ensure devices feature deeper in-built security measures from a software and firmware perspective too, such as Trusted Platform Module 2.0 for enhanced encryption. Meanwhile, for IT teams, remote access control is essential so that strict permissions can be put in place, enabling them to manage which employees have access to certain files. From a policy perspective, we’re seeing more organisations take a zero-trust approach too – something which is particularly important in today’s hybrid environment to manage not just employees but partner organisations as well. Business benefits of mobile secure client solutions for a mobile workforce Beyond in-built security, mobile secure client solutions can also help to eliminate a significant cause for concern in terms of the device threat by adding boot-level security – something which is particularly important as we see the rise of hybrid working models. In addition, by removing data from the device, storing it centrally and then making it accessible via a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), such solutions provide the perfect balance of ultra-secure and ultra-productive mobile working. Employees can get on with their work, wherever they choose to be, knowing that the risk of data breaches through malware or lost and stolen devices has been nullified. With cybersecurity rated as the 2nd highest source of risk in Gartner’s 2021 Board of Directors Survey, we can expect to see these mobile secure client solutions rise in popularity. One thing is certain – this is a problem that will not be going away any time soon. With technologies advancing rapidly and hybrid working increasingly looking like the permanent norm, the threat of security breaches will continue to grow. IT leaders must embrace new solutions now to protect against this everincreasing threat. “42% of UK financial services and law firms believe their cyber threat visibility and detection systems are inadequately equipped to manage remote employees.”
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