CIO OPINION
Users now need a multitude of credentials and authentication methods to be able to access applications .
Joseph Carson , Chief Security
Scientist at Thycotic
Risky business : Protecting users that have left the office
With a survey finding 80 % of respondents admitting to engaging in at least one risky activity which could risk their organization ’ s cybersecurity over the past year , Joseph Carson , Chief Security Scientist and Advisory CISO , ThycoticCentrify , tells us we must make security usable and help the employee be successful .
The massive shift to remote or hybrid working since 2020 means protecting cloud services , cloud access , remote endpoints and data in transit has become just as important as safeguarding an organization ’ s network perimeters .
Endpoints are no longer only the devices people use , they ’ re also the applications which are now hosted anywhere and everywhere . This highlights that traditional on-premise network security solutions are not sufficient in protecting endpoints or remote users and that the new security perimeter is with identities and privileged access .
As a consequence , users now need a multitude of credentials and authentication methods to be able to access applications , many of which no longer sit behind the organization ’ s firewall . That ’ s why solutions like single sign-on and privilege-based access security have come to the forefront . They help manage the complexities of authentication and authorization without being a burden to users .
In this context , the results of a global survey commissioned by ThycoticCentrify – with over 2500 knowledge workers from organizations in the Asia Pacific region responding – make for concerning reading . The survey found that around four out of five respondents have engaged in at least one risky activity which could put their organization ’ s digital security at risk over the past year ( Australia / NZ 83 %, Singapore / Malaysia 81 %, India 90 %, Japan 67 %). This included :
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