NC Nov-Dec 2021

SECURITY UPDATE
A ZERO-TRUST FUTURE FOR A
HYBRID WORKING WORLD
MICHELE MABILIA AT KYOCERA
DOCUMENT SOLUTIONS UK EXPLAINS
WHY A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO
SECURITY IS THE BEST WAY FORWARD
As employees return to offices, what was
a largely successful period of remote
working for many businesses is now
giving way to a hybrid working future.
Flexibility for employees is now the norm
rather than the exception, which promises to
make for happier workforces in the long term.
That said, there are still challenges to
address. One of these is the need to protect
company data and devices from the impact
of ransomware attacks, which have become
the modus operandi for millions of hackers in
the last couple of years.
As businesses plan for hybrid working,
connected devices such as mobile phones,
laptops, desktop computers and printers are
often earmarked for close scrutiny in the bid
to shore up cybersecurity capabilities. To
achieve this, organisations need to take a
cautious approach to security, and ensure
this is replicated across the entire IT estate.
This is where a holistic zero-trust approach
has merit.
THE CHALLENGE
The hybrid working model brings several key
challenges for employers, including the need
to properly manage BYOD policies and staff
using the same devices for work and personal
activities, as well as encouraging responsible
cyber practices without regular face-to-face
interaction. Alongside all of this is the
responsibility to ensure that all endpoints -
whether remote or office-based - have the
right security software in place to prevent
attacks. Finally, this has to be done while
minimising the impact on productivity.
Mobile phones, laptops and printers are
often among the first devices mentioned when
discussing security risks. There are legitimate
reasons for this: these are highly recognisable
pieces of home or office equipment, so it is
easy to consider these devices as a likely route
through which opportunistic hackers could try
to gain access to sensitive data. Alongside
these, the ubiquity of software such as email
or cloud storage means cybercriminals have a
huge attack surface to conduct their
operations. With so many areas to keep an
eye on, a zero-trust approach to IT security
makes sense.
THE RISK
To highlight the current cybersecurity state of
play, recent research has found that 92 per
cent of UK businesses suffered a cyberattack
in the last 12 months, and 78% feel
unprepared to deal with current threats.
Despite the upsurge in cyberattacks, more
than a quarter of UK companies do not
consider IT to be ranked within their top three
priorities as they plan for the next 12 months.
This is concerning when considering the
finding that cyberattacks cost nearly one in ten
(8%) UK businesses over £1 million.
Plenty of work needs to be done across the
entire IT estate, as not enough is being done
to actively address these issues. Organisations
need tools to cover all the bases, including
multi-factor authentication to govern access to
sensitive data, secure document management
systems to ensure information is shared in a
safe and compliant manner, and encryption
capabilities that reduce the chances of stored
data - whether on-premise or in the cloud -
being compromised.
THE REWARD
Adopting a zero-trust framework and applying
it across all elements of the IT estate offers a
variety of security benefits. Zero-trust
presumes all applications and services are
malicious and are denied access from
connecting until they can be positively verified
by their identity attributes. Therefore, this
model reduces risk because it closely
scrutinises what is on the network and how
those assets are communicating. Further, as
baselines are created, a zero-trust model
reduces risk by eliminating overprovisioned
software and services and continuously
checking the 'credentials' of all devices -
whether they are printers, laptops, desktop
computers, mobile phones or any other
internet-enabled technology.
THE FUTURE
Functioning efficiently and safely in a hybrid
work environment all boils down to risk
management. This means getting better
visibility and understanding of the way people
work, and by association, the way they interact
with business systems and sensitive data.
Zero-trust doesn’t have to be a complete
change in the business working model or
mean that existing security architectures need
to be replaced. It simply provides a solution to
gain more control within the network, creating
an even stronger shield and barrier. It is the
way forward for organisations that want to be
confident that they have the necessary tools
and support to combat evolving threats. NC
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