What is remote work security?

What does modern remote work security require?

The growth of hybrid work models means the classic network perimeter model of cybersecurity—where initial remote access is granted via VPN, and any subsequent activity within the corporate WAN is deemed safe—no longer works. Remote workers need access to data and applications from virtually anywhere, and often from multiple devices.

However, outdated perimeter-based approaches cannot secure the volume and variety of remote access requests that a hybrid work model creates.

Most IT infrastructures are a hybrid of on-premises data centers and cloud-based workloads. Granting remote access to both of these resources exerts a major strain on perimeter-based security. SaaS traffic flowing over a VPN often degrades performance, leading to users shutting off the corporate VPN in order to complete their work. However, users directly accessing cloud applications open up your organization to numerous cybersecurity threats.

Many remote employees also use personal devices rather than corporate devices, complicating endpoint security. Corporate networks cannot assume that any remote access request is legitimate until multiple remote security measures have been applied, as it might come from any number of unmanaged device types. If one of those unmanaged devices is a bad actor, once they’re inside the corporate VPN, they can move laterally through a network, spreading malware. Context-aware “just enough” access models are needed instead.

VPNs cannot scale as needed by most large enterprises. With the increase of remote work and more users reliant on VPNs, enterprises need more security hardware than ever within their datacenter. Scaling this hardware-based architecture is a complex, slow and costly process. Increasing amounts of encrypted and high-bandwidth application traffic going to cloud-based applications and the web at large only worsens this problem.

This issue highlights the overall challenge businesses face in building a modern remote work security strategy—namely, how to balance airtight application and data protection with acceptable performance and streamlined access for legitimate end users across the company network. Amid the growing security risks from dangers such as malware and insider threats, remote security solutions must:

• Go beyond the overly permissive and “assumed safe” structure of VPNs.
• Mitigate threats from outside sources, namely SaaS and web access, that aren’t under IT’s direct control.
• Implement ZTNA principles, like network segmentation and traffic isolation, to shrink the attack surface and protect data and users on any app, in any location, and from any device.
• Enable protections through software agents on managed remote employee endpoints running any common OS, including Microsoft Windows, macOs, Chrome OS, Linux, iOS and Android.
• Improve upon single sign-on (SSO) by making it more contextual as well as compatible with a wider range of applications.

Together, these measures protect data and users from numerous cybersecurity risks that would otherwise go largely unchecked among remote workers and the applications they use.

What are the biggest security risks for remote employees?

Integrating remote work security measures that go beyond VPNs is essential, given the depth and breadth of cybersecurity risks. Some of the most prominent threats include:

Phishing

Phishing attacks are a blunt, yet effective, way for their perpetrators to extract sensitive data like login credentials using common communications channels such as email or chat. In a remote work context, phishing emails including content related to corporate policies have become especially common phishing vessels. Scams related to prizes or “urgent” matters like tax filing remain popular, too.

For example, an employee might receive an important-looking email saying the company is updating its hybrid work policy as part of a “back to the office” move. But once they open it and click a link in it purporting to lead to a page with more details, their account is compromised. Using a VPN, the attacker may be able to move laterally through the network and cause additional harm. Continuous and contextual security risk assessment is needed.

Weak password security

Even though passwords are fundamental to cybersecurity as we know it, the creation and overall management of them is a source of countless problems. Employees frequently recycle the same weak passwords across accounts, potentially exposing all of their data to exfiltration if just one login is compromised.

Even worse, passwords that they use on personal accounts are reused on corporate ones as well. This means a breach affecting a private email account could have major ramifications for the safety of workplace data. The sheer scope of SaaS and web app usage makes poor password hygiene a major threat to remote work security.

Unmanaged personal devices and remote access

In the old world of perimeter security, IT could extend its perimeter to a set of trusted managed devices, like company-owned PCs, and enable VPN access from them. That system breaks down in a remote work world, where employees use unmanaged personal devices like smartphones and laptops.

Someone with a VPN client installed on a personal device could access their company applications, but there would be distinct security risks involved. The personal device in question might not be properly patched or running the most up-to-date software. Accordingly, they could open up new vulnerabilities across the network after gaining remote access to it.

Unsecured direct access to cloud and SaaS apps

Because VPNs take a major toll on performance and user experience, it’s common for a remote worker to seek out alternatives that “feel” better but are less secure. As problematic as VPNs are overall, this approach of using no protections at all is far riskier. Remote workers run the risk of malware infections that can leak sensitive data and cause their organizations to have a data breach or fall victim to a ransomware attack.

Citrix solutions for remote work security

Citrix offers comprehensive and always up-to-date remote work security solutions that are easy for security teams to implement:

• Citrix Secure Private Access is a zero trust security solution for secure remote work. Citrix Secure Private Access integrates with MFA and SSO providers, offers a secure alternative to VPN access, and reduces the available attack surface for bad actors. Remote workers can securely access cloud and SaaS applications without compromising on user experience, and organizations can support safer, more scalable remote work.
• Citrix Enterprise Browser is a browser designed specifically for secure web application access. With the Citrix Enterprise Browser, businesses can implement strict security controls for users, providing a more secure solution than a traditional consumer browser. 
• uberAgent offers deep visibility into security and user experience data across your IT environment.