Zero Trust: More Important as Hybrid Work Goes Mainstream

As COVID-19 continues to disrupt work in 2022, we believe that the hybrid workforce will remain for the foreseeable future. With that workforce model comes cyber security challenges that must be addressed by organizations of all sizes.

Especially considering the number of employees working remotely and even working on devices that they own, business leaders need to make some assumptions in order to remain secure. For example, assume that employees have installed malware, have clicked on links that expose them to viruses, and that they have not updated their machine with the latest patches. This means that you have a zero-trust approach: if a device does not have updated virus protection, for example, then that device does not have access to your network.

Your zero trust approach, while not accusing employees of doing anything intentionally wrong, will encourage everybody in your organization to manage their devices in a way that allows the access to things like remote file sharing needed to get their jobs done.

Once employees are cleared and have access to your network, don’t let up on this zero trust approach. Make sure that your hybrid team is re-authenticating every time access is required.

How this approach impact third-party providers is what might make you call in some IT expertise. Many business professionals also access systems like CRM platforms that are outside of your IT environment and, therefore, outside of your control. Bullet-proofing your environment but not knowing how safe any third party is means that your risk exposure is high.

Ideally, you need zero trust partners.

And, even with the above scenarios covered, employees have access to things like social media and chat – technology sites that are convenient and frequently visited. Providing the bullet-proof substitute for any/all of those is a very big challenge.

The experts at PSN have the skills and experience to help. Please contact me for more on how PSN Technology can help your business.

Philipp Emma | philipp@psntech.com | 313-792-8082 x 202