Remote Desktop Attacks on the Rise: Here’s How to Protect Your Data

When it comes to privacy and protection of your device, you should practice primary methods for ensuring the security of your systems. Users generally neglect these steps as an act of negligence, which thereby results in security breaches in their systems. If you are following a work from the home module, you would hardly have any security patches on your PC or Laptop. Only a few people enforce a robust security setup for their PCs and Laptops; however, a large portion of users do not care about the security of their systems and think that their system won’t get affected if anything happens. On the other hand, large organizations follow best security practices to keep the data of their systems secure and far from the reach of the attackers. Generally, if you are a part-time worker who works from home or you are on a work-from-home module because of the pandemic outbreak, you may ensure the privacy of your systems.

Driven by the pandemic outbreak, companies are forced to have employees work remotely. Since the lockdown caught everyone unprepared, most of the employees of organizations are using their personal computers or laptops during work from home. These systems do not have an ample amount of security to ensure the safety of the enterprise data. Also, employees using their systems for working on enterprise data are at a state of higher risk of getting tracked rather than if they are working on a system setup of an organization that has top security patches in it to protect the system from cyberattacks. Recent cases of Ransomware attacks in multiple companies have come into knowledge. The reason for that was the involvement of the employees into the official networks by using their devices, which in turn resulted in providing a gateway to the hackers to insert their additional codes in the security systems.

There are some recent studies by the security experts at ESet who have highlighted that post the pandemic outbreak there is a sudden spike in the number of online attacks on the systems of the employees who were accessing the sensitive corporate data using their PC or Laptops while they were on a work-from-home module. Their systems were interrupted by the hackers while they were using remote access services and the Remote Desktop Control of Windows.

Studies also showed that the organizations neglected adequate security settings like additional layers of authentication and more, which in turn resulted in figuring out of the passwords easily by the attackers. Also, it was found that the employees’ systems used for accessing the organization’s sensitive data lacked privacy tools due to the negligence of the users using it, which was also a primary cause for the remote desktop attacks. An inadequate security setup solution of an organization results in giving an open invitation to the cybercriminals. If the security solution is not up to the mark, the attackers can easily breach the security and enter the organization’s network. They can easily insert codes in the security solutions of the organization and leak sensitive corporate data. Once they have breached the security of the organizational network, they can also gain admin access and remove security solutions from the networks forever.

How to Protect the Sensitive Information

The security experts at ESet have suggested the following measures to be taken to protect the systems from the online attacks. If you work at an enterprise-level, you may follow the below-mentioned measures for ensuring the better security of your systems and networks.

1. You should enforce a strong password policy if you are working at an enterprise level.
2. Practice multiple-factor authentication for giving access to the data to others.
3. Avoid using local or pirated software. Use only authentic and official software.
4. Train your staff on what steps they should take to maintain the data integrity while they are on the work-from-home module.
5. Make sure you are using authorized systems.
6. It would be best if you also implement an additional level of security and backup solution so that you can deal with the cybercrimes.

Source: Remote Desktop Attacks on the Rise.

Tags:Remote Desktop