Since the start of the COVID pandemic of 2020, 62% of the American workforce began working from home. Although there are many benefits to this change for both employers and employees, some drawbacks and issues need to be resolved quickly if companies want to continue to function at pre-COVID capacity or greater.
One of these issues is that of cybersecurity. Although 60% of employers have implemented multi-factor authentication, this system simply isn’t cutting it, particularly with the added vulnerability inherent with remote work. With cybercrime having risen by 300% since the beginning of the pandemic, there’s no time to keep doing things that don’t work.
The major cybersecurity concerns for a remote workforce are that devices may be more exposed at home; it may be difficult to manage new devices using remote work resources; IT support may not be effective remotely, and cybersecurity for personal networks and personal devices may not be enabled at all, or may not fit the need. Although 75% of companies are satisfied with their in-house cybersecurity protocols, most employees are no longer under that safety umbrella. IT departments did not have the time necessary to prepare for the sudden switch to remote work successfully. Although 75% of employees would likely implement recommended security measures from their employers, 20% received no input at all.
Even though the majority of American companies have implemented MFA, 67% still experience security breaches. While an MFA can prevent 95% of phishing attempts and 75% of targeted attacks, they’re still highly vulnerable. They’re fairly easy to hack and because many users use the same credentials for multiple applications. This is how hackers could breach 500,000 Zoom accounts in 2020, using credential stuffing (using username/password combinations from previous breaches.)
The “new normal” requires a new method of security. Beyond Identity provides passwordless security by replacing passwords with biometrics and cryptography. Their risk-based authentication means that every user and every device is checked for risk signals. Their frictionless login means that there are no out-of-band messages that could be intercepted.
It’s time to say goodbye to passwords and embrace the future of cybersecurity with passwordless security.
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