Report: More Unknown Devices on Corporate Networks
A report published this week by Sepio Systems suggests the number of devices being attached to corporate networks since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic began has increased sharply.
Sepio Systems, a provider of tools for mitigating cyberattacks against hardware systems delivered via the cloud, finds there has been a 42% increase in the number of devices connected to corporate endpoints. There are also now almost three times the number of different device vendors, many of which the report notes are unrecognized, off-brand devices, not devices from brand-name vendors that are common in enterprise IT environments.
Based on an analysis of traffic flowing through the Sepio System cloud service, the report also finds the number of hours devices are being employed has been extended as employees mix corporate and leisure activities while working from home.
Sepio Systems CEO Yossi Appleboum said the obvious concern with more employees working from home in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic is lack of visibility. It’s only a matter of time before many of these unmanaged devices become infected with malware capable of laterally moving across a corporate network, he noted. In fact, many of them most likely are already compromised.
Of course, it may be months before malware is discovered. In the meantime, most cybersecurity teams are also working from home, which makes it difficult to protect managed devices, let alone endpoints that are unrecognized. In theory, at least, cybersecurity teams that have not yet shifted to cloud platforms soon will be doing so in larger numbers to gain increased visibility and, hopefully, control.
Appleboum said it’s imperative for IT organizations to regain control over those endpoints in what is rapidly becoming the “new normal.” Many employees now working remotely may never return to the office. A survey of 305 finance leaders in the U.S. published by PwC finds that nearly half of the respondents (49%) plan to make remote work a permanent option for roles within their organizations that allow for it. Large companies such as Nationwide and Barclays have already said they will not be bringing large numbers of employees back into the office.
Many offices might not even reopen as organizations discover that they no longer need to lease commercial office space to operate, given all the applications now available via the cloud.
That shift will present cybersecurity teams with a major challenge as what once was considered a temporary issue becomes the way an organization operates. Securing thousands of remote endpoints accessing applications over wide area networks (WANs) is not nearly as simple as securing endpoints attached to a local area network protected by a firewall.
Most employees most likely will be returning to an office, but less frequently. Many organizations will bring employees back to the office in rotations that enable them to enforce social distancing policies of six feet or more of space. Given the number of employees who share space in an office bullpen-type setting, it’s clear not everyone will be able to be in the office at the same time. That includes, of course, members of the cybersecurity team as well.
