A California-based cybersecurity firm found an exponential increase of hackers’ attacks due to remote work. Since companies decentralize their operations due to the pandemic, the Californian firm reported 5,258 data breaches during the last year, almost a one-third increase compared to the year before.
After the global shift to remote work, most employees relied on their personal devices and home internet to keep working from home. Home facilities are usually less secure than company’s devices, and hackers could easily exploit gaps in the system.
For example, Zoom was the most targeted platform. Especially during the first lockdown, hackers tricked remote workers with fake emails and links. Creating fake links, the video conferencing platform was an easy backdoor to spy on employees and steal sensitive personal information.
14th Edition of Data Breach Investigations Report: Data on Hackers And Remote Workers
US-based Verizon Business analyzed 29,207 security incidents from 83 contributors across 88 countries, 12 industries, and three world regions. According to the report, phishing and ransomware attacks increased by 11 %, 15 times more than the previous year.
Specifically, hackers’ breaches involved credential data (61%), recording between 637 and 3.3 billion malicious login attempts during the year. Within the Financial and insurance industries, 83% of attacks targeted personal data. For Professional, Scientific, and Technical services industries, only 49%.
The sudden shift to remote work increased hackers’ attacks, forcing companies to implement their security systems for employees.
