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Cyberattacks loom as pandemic forces employees to work from home
Many employees in Indonesia working from home so as not to spread the coronavirus may unwittingly be spreading viruses of a very different sort – and putting their companies at risk in the process.
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Working from home increases the risk of cyberattacks on companies, experts have warned. (Unsplash/Courtesy of Shamsudeen Adedokun/Unsplash)
T
he work-from-home (WFH) arrangement aimed at curbing COVID-19 transmission exposes companies to cyberthreats as unaware employees connect to office networks from personal computers, experts have warned.
According to the National Cyber and Encryption Agency (BSSN), cyberattacks in Indonesia almost doubled to more than 495 million cases in 2020, the highest figure ever recorded by the agency, established in 2017.
BSSN spokesperson Anton Setiawan told The Jakarta Post that the COVID-19 pandemic played a role in the sudden increase in cyberattacks. He said the outbreak, specifically the work-from-home (WFH) mandate, had forced both businesses and government institutions to conduct operations through digital channels.
Working from outside the office strips employees of centralized cybersecurity protection provided by the company as they use personal or even public networks to access office systems, leaving the latter more vulnerable to attacks.
“WFH definitely increases the cybersecurity risk. Previously, [employees would work] within a clear and tight office network, Anton said on Wednesday. “Organizational resources that were previously closed and limited must be opened [to allow remote access].”
Tan Wijaya, president director of IBM Indonesia, a wholly owned subsidiary of United States technology giant IBM, shared the same concern, saying companies in Indonesia and other countries faced a “significantly higher” risk during the WFH period.
Most private networks do not have adequate security features, he explained. Ideally networks used for work purposes should be separated from personal use, but WFH means family members may run other software than office applications on connected computers.
