Security News > 2020 > March > How to deal with network security and bandwidth issues during the coronavirus pandemic
Justin Jett, director of audit and compliance at analytics company Plixer, said as more and more employees begin working from home, organizations are struggling to maintain network privacy and handle security issues.
"Because of bandwidth capacity issues, many organizations are struggling to provide secure VPN connections for all of their remote employees. This can result in employees not using the VPN, or having a significantly poor experience as compared to when in the office. Since not all employees understand how VPNs work, some employees are bound to engage in activities, like streaming video, that drastically tax the bandwidth for all users," Jett said.
The bigger issues come with cultural issues related to working from home, like leaving laptops unlocked, allowing children to download insecure games or opening phishing emails designed to scam people.
"Organizations allowing people to work from home where the employees are not able to access email in the cloud, like Office 365 or GSuite, should be using VPN connections. IT departments should verify ahead of time that the network load can be adjusted due to increased connections. Jett added that malicious actors are well aware of the increase in employees working from home and are shifting tactics to attack home networks in an effort to infect devices that will ultimately connect to the VPN. Once users connect to the corporate network, malware can easily spread through the company."
Organizations across the board should be reviewing and implementing business continuity plans and must ensure that there is suitable bandwidth and resources available for everyone to work remotely and have secure access to systems to ensure students, care workers and employees provide an effective service.