Why are Cloud-based security systems critical in the remote work scenario?
The Covid-19 pandemic changed the way traditional businesses operated. The world saw how organizations had to tackle their operations. Companies took an abrupt decision to send their employees home. Therefore, working from the regular workstation took a backseat due to the fear of the virus. Now, attending zoom meetings and participating in virtual team-building exercises have become the new normal. It was essential to keep the organizational adrenalin running apart from keeping an eye on the business bottom-line. So far, so good.
While the IT team rushed to connect the employees at home to the workplace, in such a scenario, the security aspect often got overlooked in most instances. While many businesses suffered across industries, the lockdown also provided new opportunities to cybercriminals who found a soft target in the remote worker.
With the Covid 19 reaching the endemic stage and businesses returning to near normal, one thing that has changed irreversibly is the paradigm shift towards remote work.
In 2021, nearly 4.7 million workforces in the US were working remotely, and 36.2 million Americans are estimated to work remotely by 2025. This figure could well be true to believe, as 4 million people left their jobs every month from April 2021 to August 2021. Workers are re-prioritizing their work-life balance and are more skeptical working in office environments where others refuse to abide by Covid safety measures.
The new working environment
As organizations gear up to work in hybrid models with remote office workplaces, how does it secure itself from cyber-attacks because devices used by employees are not well-equipped against cyberattacks? Or there can even be internal data breaches by employees. The scope of work increased manifold for security teams, catering to scattered workforces and often struggling to ensure complete cybersecurity when the network perimeter disappeared. With physical boundaries becoming irrelevant, Cloud-native Security became the alternative solution.
Cloud security as a service provides a unified and integrated cybersecurity solution where every point of access is protected. Devices, apps, data, and users are all protected wherever they are physically and regardless of what they are doing on the system. The cloud-native Security looks promising and effective as it was well-designed for remote work environments. Hence, cloud-native Security will influence how the 21st-century post-pandemic workflow for scattered workforce will pan out for businesses working remote or in hybrid mode.
Remote work models or hybrid models make sense considering how the pandemic became an eye-opener. Employers could see the benefits of cost-cutting on the humongous office rentals incurred earlier. Employees equally could feel the value of work-life balance with savings in commuting time and expense.
The cyber security cloud-based solutions protect the organization in the new environment, not to mention the sigh of relief to the security teams. Here we will look at some of the benefits of cloud-native scurity solutions.
Cloud-native solutions are independent of boundaries.
With 51 % of the workers expected to be working remotely by the end of 2021, coupled with cloud computing and IoT trending, the perimeter based on in-premises Security will not be prominent. Cloud-native security solutions do not work within a confined boundary. It provides protection wherever it is required. When the network security of an organization comes well-supported by cloud-native Security, organizations can rest easy knowing the fact that the security policies are in force, irrespective of where the employees are working from. So, whether a worker is remotely working using direct internet access, VPN, or mobile access, cloud security provides complete protection all the time.
Cloud-native cyber Security allows visibility of Remote workers' activities.
Cloud applications are not new, but it has become a savior for security teams given the recent remote working phenomenon. Cloud apps allow access to shared data, transfer files and connect distant team members. It looks innocuous because the security team is aware of which apps are in use which allows them to prevent data breaches or loss. But in the case of remote working employees, how does one know what the worker on the company devices has downloaded apps?
The risk of using unsanctioned IT systems, devices, software's or apps is always there in a modern business environment. It is Open Security that employees access social media in their workplace. Working from home increases the risk of employees accessing new cloud tools or downloading a music stream without the security team being informed. These actions cause severe threats to network security, often inciting hackers to attack the systems on the platter.
Many organizations are using Security as a Service (Seas), a cloud-based outsourced cyber security solution. This Security as a service eases the in-house security workload, allows scalability when business grows, and is as cost-effective as not requiring on-premises maintenance. A critical solution provided by this service is that it allows visibility of the employee's activities.
Empowering the security team to see how the remote employees or in-premises workers use the internet ensures better monitoring and control of any unsanctioned apps.
By using the DNS-layered cloud-based security solution, the organization can prevent employees from accessing certain domains. Thus, it will prevent the use of risky social media sites or websites on company devices.
Easy scalability of cloud-native security solutions
The advantage of the remote or hybrid work model is that it allows businesses to expand their workforce without the constraints of physical office space. This expansion of the network is commensurate with an increase in the number of users and geographic expansion. It also increased the risk of a cyberattack on in-premises systems.
Having a cloud-native security solution, the scalability of business did not pose a threat from external cyber-attacks. The SECaaS model allows the security team to use the resources from the cloud whenever scalability is required. Outsourcing SECaaS cyber security solutions from vendors with a robust infrastructure in multilocation help an organization cause minimum latency irrespective of where the employees are located.
It is not surprising that many businesses increased their workforce due to remote working during and after the pandemic, as cloud-based security solutions allowed cheaper costs for scaling up a business.
Conclusion
Remote working was a security concern for the security team. However, with cloud-native Security, organizations find themselves in an advantageous position after almost one and half years down the line. Cloud-native security solutions have ensured that organizations are safer than ever before.
