We are enjoying many perks of living in the era of the hyperconnected digital ecosystem. One such perk is remote working, commonly known as work from home. What emerged as a necessity during the Covid-19 pandemic has now become a new normal, even after the pandemic is evidently over.

Companies have embraced this new trend worldwide, allowing their employees to work from home forever. However, the rising popularity of enterprise mobility has given birth to a new set of problems, and cybersecurity is at the top of the list. The companies that have adapted to the changing trend have raised concerns about data monitoring and security.

Why does remote working pose a risk to cybersecurity?

Companies can control the digital environment only if all devices are connected to the same network having multiple restrictions. In remote working, organizations have to allow the usage of personal laptops and mobile devices. There are three popular approaches that companies adopt for remote working:

BYOD:

BYOD is an abbreviation of Bring Your Own Device. In this, the organization allows the usage of personal devices for work. Therefore, it demands minimum investment in the IT infrastructure from the organization’s end. However, it is the riskiest approach from the data security perspective.

COPE:

COPE stands for corporate-owned, personally enabled. The organization owns the devices but is lenient in letting employees use them for personal activities.

CYOD:

Choose Your Own Device is the costliest and the least popular approach out of all. CYOD allows employees to use only company-approved devices for work. Organizations avoid CYOD. However, it is the best way to protect the organization’s digital ecosystem.

Remote working has its own set of benefits. For example, the attrition rate of companies offering work from home is 25% lower than the stringent companies. Most employees feel that they can strike a better work-life balance while working from home.

However, remote working has its own pitfalls. It makes data monitoring difficult for the companies as they lose control over the remote devices. In addition to that, it opens multiple gateways for malware and ransomware to enter the company’s digital ecosystem.

Here are some of the significant cyber security risks

Personal networks

WFH employees generally use the home network for the internet connection. These personal networks are unsecured. It is observed that employees generally update their devices and antivirus software, but they forget to update their home router software, making the network riskier.

Read More: How to ensure cybersecurity while allowing remote working?