With the roadmap out of lockdown now underway, many employees are set to return to the office either part-time or full-time. While this might be an exciting development for many, businesses need to be aware of the IT risks the return poses, said Ultima.
While companies may think they have good IT security in place, in lockdown employees have been swapping between devices, using USB media and sharing devices with other family members as well as accessing their own IoTs devices, and all across a flat network. This is a problem because flat networks don’t have the same level of protection as corporate networks. So, it’s highly likely your employees could be walking back into your office with devices that have been loaded with malware, making your business vulnerable to hackers.
Phishing attempts have risen 600% since the end of February (Accenture) and malware has been on the increase since the start of lockdown. Since the start of the pandemic, people have been targeted with sophisticated, highly emotional scams, for example, a WHO headed letter suggesting insurance against COIVD-19. And in a recent webinar poll, Ultima found 60% of IT staff say their remote end-users don’t have next-generation anti-virus tools on their end devices.