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The reality of the world post-COVID is that everything is different than it was before, from personal connections to business meetings and well beyond. To cope with this new norm, many businesses are taking a hybrid work approach, pairing in-person and remote work to fit the needs of their workforce.

As hybrid offices become more common, the attack surface for cyber threats continues to expand. This Forbes article highlights two major technological shifts due to COVID-19: transitioning to the cloud and the need for remote access.

Key Takeaways:

1. Understanding where security risks come from, given every possible factor at play, means defining risks attached to operations, compliance and data privacy, brand reputation, and employees.
2. No solution to tech security is absolutely fool-proof, no matter what you plan for, but many are leaning toward more cloud-based systems.
   1.  On-premises solutions aren’t necessarily better than secure cloud options when factors like sophisticated maintenance programs are considered and the risk of being solely responsible for breaches.
   2. Cloud systems can actually have a mitigating effect on data security risk and liability risk. 

Endpoint protection is defined as the security to remotely bridged computer networks. To mitigate security risks in hybrid work environments, Computer Weekly says businesses must evolve endpoint security strategies to meet the intricacies of remote and hybrid working environments.

Key Takeaways:

1. "Ensuring that every distributed corporate device has up-to-date security patches is the primary challenge faced by organizations with remote workforces," according to Andrew Hewitt, a senior analyst at Forrester.
2. Jake Moore, a security specialist at ESET, believes that organizations should ideally provide hybrid workers with their own dedicated laptops for completing all tasks so those workers won’t need to use personal devices for work purposes. 

Microsoft and CISO have identified six pillars – each of which is interconnected by automated enforcement of security policy, correlation of signal and security automation, and orchestration –  for securing your hybrid workforce:   

1. Identities – Keeping your identity – for anything that represents people, services, or IoT (Internet of Things, like smart light bulbs and your AppleTV) devices – safe means utilizing multifactor authentication whenever possible. Still not using MFA? We're here to help.
2. Endpoints – Using zero trust architecture, or assuming everything coming into your network is a threat, helps businesses using a hybrid office model can keep software and hardware costs down.  
3. Applications – Avoid legacy applications that don’t allow for MFA by moving to a serverless, cloud-based SaaS or PaaS-based service – and more.  
4. Network – Attacks are coming fast and furious these days, and your team must be prepared with a segmented layout across the entire network to minimize possible compromised data. 
5. Infrastructure – The new dependence on cloud solutions means more effective threat protection is required, like mitigation strategies and efficient tools that manage access to your networks.   
6. Data – Managing the flow of your data means reconsidering how your team conducts business on a day-to-day level. 

For a more detailed breakdown of the six pillars of securing your hybrid workforce, plus tons of data points and deep-dive insight, check out the full blog here!

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