The social distancing measures taken in response to COVID-19 have sent most American employees out of the office and working from home. And this new “WFH” reality is music to cybercriminals’ ears.

Consumer electronics and office equipment suppliers have experienced a surge in demand as individuals quickly build up their home offices. Meanwhile, most companies — unaccustomed to a nearly 100% remote workforce — have scrambled to accommodate changes and adjust their networks rapidly.

Hackers and social engineers have wasted no time seizing on this fresh opportunity, either.

In addition to defrauding charitable givers through fake medical relief phishing campaigns, cybercriminals have honed corporate attacks to exploit “WFH” arrangements. Cybersecurity consultant David Kennedy reports that such attacks have risen by more than 500% during social distancing. Phishing campaigns targeting work-from-home employees have experienced an even sharper rise, jumping 2,000%.

When it comes to stopping the spread in cybercrime, WFH employees can take a number of actions. Here are a few top recommendations:

1. Keep work and personal computing separate: This standard home-office cybersecurity mandate has become even more crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic. For those who have kids at home because of school closures, it’s also critical to keep work devices physically secured.
2. Use multifactor authentication: One of the most suggested solutions for ensuring secure access is to require at least two forms of authentication to access corporate resources. For example, your organization could require both a password, as well as an authentication code sent to a secure email account, to gain access.
3. Stay ahead of the curve: Employees must be able to recognize threats to combat them. Spear phishing campaigns and other advanced threats can be incredibly deceptive, so make sure your company is offering training to keep everyone up to speed. Also, keep current with security updates. Make sure ongoing patches and fixes aren’t stalling because of the WFH situation.

Lunarline can help your employees and your organization stay safe in these challenging times. For more information on how we can keep social engineers off of your remote network connections, contact us online today.