From large desktops to laptops and now to tablets the way we access information is changing at a rapid pace as the generations of mankind. What was new yesterday is old today. The Internet has made us a global population however the flip side remains that it has left nothing as private.

It is remarkably true that future wars will not be fought with bullets or ammunition but with a series of hacking events to disrupt the complete economy of the enemy. A classic example remains the recent pandemic that put the complete world to a halt. Govt’s were forced to put everything at a standstill which resulted not only loss of trillions of dollars worth of assets and business but also caused lives of innocent people.

Similar to a coronavirus are computer viruses or malware. It just thankfully infected computers. With the recent pandemic situation, it has become even more challenging for the IT teams across the globe to manage their distributed operations when the employees are working from home and not confined to company premises where the existing security architectures or hardware provide security from any data breach.

Here are a few things that can come in handy while designing your network infrastructure in today's time:

More focus on the application upgrades and patching of the remote systems for OperatingSystems, Antimalware apps and other Applications.

Shortening of the patching cycle for the systems such as VPNs, End points, cloud interfaces that are essential for the remote working of the companies to eliminate the vulnerabilities soon after they are discovered.

Enable an architecture of Multi-Factor Authentications with random codes

Employees working remotely must use MFA to access network resources and critical applications. This can prove to be one of the most important line of defense apart from the other antimalware programs. A central server can send a code via SMS to the user post their login with one credential.

Account for any Shadow IT systems

The so-called Shadow IT systems are administered directly by the users. They had been set up in a company to support a specific application or any specific business need. However, in today's WFH environment the IT and Security teams need to envision the way to work without such special permissions.

Include Virtualization Of devices as a roadmap

Instead of providing Operating Systems and data directly on the machines of the users, it is better to keep critical company data on central virtual servers where it can be adequately secured and accessed via virtual thin clients. This architecture not only limits the perforation at the user end but also makes it easier for IT and Security teams in managing the security of their priced data.

Make use of Data Mirroring/Data Replication

Using technologies or hardware and software combinations that can replicate the data will not only help in providing a real-time backup of your data but also will help in considerably reducing the time required for restarting the operations in case any such malware attacks occur. Also, it will help in maintaining different levels of security for the servers as the access on such servers will be according to the need.

The most strong recommendation is to make your employee aware about the criticality of data protection

Data security is not limited to companies or institutions, it is an integral part of everybody’s life. We need to educate our employees what are the effects of not taking precautions on their company, their own personal data and more importantly their own financial information. This should help us to create a force of people who will be able to work keeping in mind the necessity of data security.

The author, Siddharth Gupta, is the Founder Of AIS Securitech. The views expressed are personal