Since performing national security-related business through personal devices and email accounts, members of the UK government have run the risk of operating in "wild west" conditions, according to intelligence analysts and former government officials.
Unsettlingly, it has been reported that foreign operatives have hacked into some of these unencrypted connections.
All organisations, whether in the public or private sector, face the same risks when conducting sensitive business in this manner, despite the fact that the stakes are quite high for government and public officials. In fact, there are considerable gaps that need to be filled in by 2023, including poor cyber hygiene and business-wide cybersecurity procedures that put firms at danger of data breaches.
One of the most important security issues of the present is data leaks. However, a lot of businesses fall short in protecting the data of their staff members and preparing them for cyber dangers. In reality, our own research revealed that 54% of employees are not regularly obliged to complete cybersecurity training, and nearly 57% of respondents acknowledged using a work-issued device for personal use in the previous year. Additionally, many employees report losing or breaking their gadgets, which are frequently used to authenticate corporate business accounts.
Additionally, the majority of employees continue to use the simplest kinds of authentication as their main way for logging into their accounts, despite the fact that these methods have been shown to be useless against the modern world's most popular credential-stealing strategies. For instance, passwords are the least effective technique of protecting online data since they are vulnerable to frauds like phishing, password spraying, and man in the middle (MitM) assaults. In order to safeguard accounts without using the conventional username and password combination, an increasing number of businesses (as well as individuals) are moving toward passwordless authentication.
Providing phishing-resistant multi- or two-factor authentication (MFA/2FA) access to business apps across corporate-issued and personal devices is crucial in the era of hybrid and remote working. Adopting MFA/2FA solutions adds an additional layer of security by requiring a user to provide two or more forms of identity verification before granting access. But not all MFA/2FA applications are created equal.
Consider moving toward passwordless and implementing strong 2FA/MFA as more current, reliable authentication methods that also provide a better user experience are needed by organizations. For instance, the FIDO Alliance's open FIDO2 authentication standard provides more contemporary authentication alternatives, such as strong single factor (passwordless), strong two-factor, and multi-factor authentication.
The most recent set of digital authentication standards, FIDO2, is essential for overcoming problems with traditional authentication and doing away with the widespread usage of passwords. It enables users to quickly authenticate via devices with built-in security capabilities to access their digital information, such as fingerprint readers, smartphone cameras, or hardware-based security keys. These contemporary solutions, which are user-friendly and close the gap between internal and external user authentication, have been shown to be the most efficient business-wide cybersecurity options. In reality, the US government and standards bodies both require the use of FIDO2 Security Keys, which are recognized as the industry standard for phishing-resistant authentication.
Importance of education and communication
To ensure they can recognize frauds and defend against some attacks on their own, today's workers are becoming more and more aware of the need for stronger cybersecurity policies and training. Staff members who aren't given cybersecurity training aren't equipped with the knowledge they need to practice good cyber hygiene and respond to risks when they do occur. Therefore, in order to effectively minimize the growth in data breaches and other cyberattacks, UK organizations must also mandate current and continuous cyber training to all workers in addition to implementing stronger, phishing-resistant authentication. It's crucial to outline the benefits of any new authentication procedures and other processes to employees when discussing security changes, emphasizing both their simplicity of use and the benefits of increased security.
Organizations can only be sure they are safeguarding themselves against today's increasingly sophisticated cyber threats through extensive training, planning, and implementation of effective cybersecurity, together with cutting-edge authentication solutions.
