At times, life during COVID-19 pandemic can feel like something from a dystopian novel. If anyone told us ahead of time that we’d be working from home due to a deadly virus outbreak in 2020, we probably wouldn’t have believed it. While the battle against COVID-19 is underway, we admins have our own battles to face against cyberattacks.
Key findings on cybercriminal activity during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Analysis by the Department of Homeland Security discovered a 127 percent increase in exposed Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) endpoints.
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Internet services search engine, Shodan, has found that the number of servers with Virtual Private Network (VPN) services visible on the Internet has increased significantly.
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The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and National Cyber Security Centre (NSCS) established that hackers are increasingly scanning for VPN vulnerabilities, especially in the last few months.
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Kaspersky, a cyber-security firm, indicated that the number of brute-force attacks targeting RDP endpoints is rising steadily.
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Gartner estimates that only 12 percent of organizations globally are truly prepared for a disaster like this pandemic, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) research highlights that 40-60 percent of small businesses never recover following a disaster.
These findings highlight the importance of leveraging a solution that secures user identities by handling malicious RDP and VPN activities. Using multi-factor authentication (MFA) technology to secure machine (local and RDP) and VPN access greatly reduces the risks of cyberattacks caused by stolen or compromised passwords.
ADSelfService Plus is an effective self-service password management and single sign-on solution that supports MFA via advanced techniques like biometrics or YubiKey for RDP and VPN access.
Want to learn more about RDP and VPN attacks, and how to secure your sensitive resources using ADSelfService Plus?
Check out this free, comprehensive guide on enabling MFA for machine and VPN logins through ADSelfService Plus.
Not much of a reader? Watch our on-demand webinar to hear our in-house product expert talk about:
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The key findings on cybercrime activities this year.
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The importance of ensuring complete security for remote workforces.
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Securing RDP endpoints with advanced authenticators.
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Securing VPN access to secure regulatory compliance.
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Enforcing conditional access to resources.
And more.
Ready to see more? Try ADSelfService Plus free for 30 days to see MFA along with many other features in action yourself!
