Home networks are the primary security risk for distributed workforces. Nearly half of all corporate security incidents involve remote work vulnerabilities. About 31 percent of those incidents begin with attackers exploiting home network peripherals.
Ninety percent of IT security professionals state that managing remote worker threats is significantly harder due to a lack of visibility into residential Wi-Fi traffic. It takes an average of 81 days to contain a single home-based breach, and recovery costs an average of $4.88 million.
Getting employees to secure their home networks is difficult, particularly if they have limited knowledge of IT hardware. Luckily, there are zero-touch strategies that allow IT teams to reduce home network risk.
Home Infrastructure Vulnerabilities
A landmark study found that 83 percent of home Wi-Fi routers have unpatched security flaws, averaging 172 vulnerabilities per device. Many home routers still have factory-default passwords or use outdated WPA2 or WEP security.
The average smart home has expanded to 22 connected devices, drastically widening the attack surface. Attackers exploit insecure smart TVs and streaming devices to gain a foothold on the Wi-Fi network and jump laterally to adjacent work laptops.
Hackers intercept unencrypted data traveling over home Wi-Fi and sniff out passwords due to weak network security. Attackers also exploit home distractions to trick users into downloading malware.
A compromised home device can infect the connected work laptop. This exposes businesses to data theft, malware infections, and compliance violations.
The Nontechnical User Gap
Securing a home network takes a number of steps: changing default usernames and passwords, updating router firmware, turning off remote management, and creating a guest network for home devices. The user would also need to keep software and security tools updated on their workstation and turn off file sharing between devices on the home network.
That’s a tall order for many users.
However, organizations typically leave home network security up to the user. Most organizations rely on written remote-work policies that instruct employees to secure their home Wi-Fi. However, nontechnical workers rarely know how to log into a router dashboard or patch firmware. This is the primary reason home office breach rates are so high.
Shifting Responsibility Away from Users
A zero-touch security strategy shifts the burden from home workers to the cloud and the IT team. The key is a secure access service edge (SASE) architecture.
SASE (pronounced “sassy”) bundles networking and security functions and delivers them as a unified cloud service. When a remote worker opens their laptop, the traffic goes to the nearest cloud-based SASE point of presence. Security checks happen instantly in the cloud.
A SASE agent runs quietly in the background of the user’s device. It provides the same level of security whether the employee is on their home Wi-Fi, a hotel network or a public coffee shop hotspot. Because SASE providers use massive global cloud networks, employees experience faster connection speeds compared to corporate VPNs.
Enabling Zero-Touch SASE with WatchGuard
WatchGuard offers solutions that enable the zero-touch SASE model. WatchGuard FireCloud Total Access is a cloud-delivered SASE platform designed to replace traditional VPNs. It continuously verifies the employee’s identity and device health and establishes a hidden, direct path to the applications they need. It silently blocks phishing links, malicious downloads and web threats before they touch the home Wi-Fi or laptop.
The WatchGuard Zero Trust Bundle includes all the tools needed for a full zero-touch architecture. In addition to FireCloud Total Access, it features AuthPoint Total Identity Security and EPDR (Endpoint Protection, Detection and Response).
All security functions route through WatchGuard Cloud. The IT team can push updates, change firewall rules and isolate compromised devices in the background without the work-from-home employee needing to click anything.
How Verteks Can Help
The Verteks team has extensive experience using the WatchGuard product line to reduce the risk of a remote work breach. If your organization has remote or hybrid workers, contact us to schedule a confidential consultation.
