STEP LOGIC Tells CNews How to Ensure Secure Remote Access

An article about a programme for configuring secure remote access has been published on the portal.

As part of this campaign, STEP LOGIC experts will provide recommendations on protecting a corporate network when working remotely, tell you about the main tools for providing remote access and teach you how to use them.

Nikolai Zabusov, Head of Information and Network Security at STEP LOGIC, the main task in providing the possibility of remote work on an ongoing basis will be deployment of the information security management process. And given the low digital literacy of users, it is possible to reduce risks only by implementing end-to-end solutions.

5 Steps to Secure Remote Access

1.      Provide a secure VPN connection.

The basic way to ensure secure data transfer is using a VPN. To secure VPN connections, a company needs a software client to be installed on a remote device. A VPN client will allow you to solve a number of different IS tasks, including identification/authentication, secure access and compliance verification. With this approach, the burden on hardware and administrators will be much lower than with several different solutions.

2.      Verify the identity of the employee connecting to the corporate network.

In 80% of cases, hackers gain access to confidential information by brute-force or stealing the passwords of the organisation's employees. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) allows you to be sure who exactly connects to your corporate network. The system asks the user for a second factor to perform authentication (via push notifications, tokens, SMS, certificates or mobile codes), which cannot be obtained by brute-force or substituted. For more information on MFA, please see «Protecting Corporate Networks from Cyber Attacks on Remote Access Services»

3.      Verify the security of the connected device.

Every third cyber attack uses malware. NAC-like solutions will help you control new network connections and check each remote device for compliance with security policies. The system allows you to create a quarantine zone for scanning equipment in order to subsequently install the latest OS security or anti-virus updates.

4.      Detect and stop attacks at the gateway.

Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) have extensive functionality to detect and counter attacks, anomalous activity and malware. They can also be used to analyse the traffic of remote users.

5.      Monitor user actions.

Research shows that data breaches due to privileged users in Russia are twice as likely as the global average. Privileged Access Management (PAM) solutions help you avoid financial losses related to incidents. PAM can also track the activity of all remote users, including contractors, who have access to the corporate network. The solution maintains a detailed log of employees' actions around the clock, records sessions and automatically notifies about suspicious activity.

For the full version of the article, visit the CNews portal.