What is Secure Remote Access?

Whether you’re working from home or managing a globally dispersed team, ensuring secure remote access to devices and data has never been more important. While remote working offers flexibility and convenience, it also opens new avenues for cybercriminals. A 2023 report found a dramatic increase in criminals exploiting a common remote access method (RDP) on Windows systems. Hackers used this method in 90% of attacks investigated, the highest percentage ever recorded. Additionally, attackers most often breach networks through these external remote services, highlighting the importance of securing them. This article explains secure remote access and how to establish it effectively. Whether you are protecting personal information or securing company data, it will provide you with the essential knowledge and tools for confident remote work.

What is Secure Remote Access?

Secure remote access is the technology often used by IT personnel who must help their colleagues with tech problems from afar. It’s also helpful for workers who need to log in to a secure device that’s connected to their company server in the office while working from a personal device at home or for managers who want to know what their employees are looking at on their company devices.

If you’re granting your team members access to company devices or systems, it’s important to have security measures in place to prevent any unauthorized access to your programs and data. Secure remote access systems involve a mix of different strategies, technologies, and applications that protect computers and networks from falling into the wrong hands.

Why is it important?

For many companies, the pandemic has cemented the use of partially or fully remote working environments, but with this shift comes new challenges not present in a physically integrated workplace. For example, IT teams must learn to register and adequately manage remote work devices from any location. At the same time, employees must learn how to extend proper cyber security etiquette to their homes, cafes, and other domains where sensitive company data could be easily compromised.

At the bare minimum, experts recommend that organizations providing remote work capabilities focus on strengthening security measures surrounding device usage, internet browsing, IoT endpoints, and internal cyber security policies. Simple actions, such as using only company-issued devices to access confidential internal data, using strong log-in credentials, harnessing a centralized IoT management solution, and regularly educating employees on best cyber security practices can significantly reduce the risk of preventable breaches caused by human error and lack of management.

It’s worth noting that secure remote access is an amalgamation of best practices and solutions curated to armor an organization from top to bottom — with the organization itself skilled enough to defend against cyberattacks and knowledgeable enough to resolve them.

How does Secure Remote Access work?

Secure remote access functions by establishing a protected connection between the remote user and the organization’s network through a series of coordinated technologies and processes.

Here is an overview of how it works:

• User authentication. User authentication begins with verifying the identity of the user attempting to access the network. This step ensures that only legitimate users gain access to the system.
• Establishing a secure connection. Once the user is authenticated, a secure connection is established. Data transmitted between the user’s device and the organization’s network is encrypted to prevent unauthorized interception.
• Implementing access controls. The system enforces access policies based on the user’s role and permissions. This step adheres to the least privilege principle, ensuring users can only access resources necessary for their job functions.
• Session management. Continuous monitoring and management are conducted throughout the user’s session to detect suspicious activity. This process includes tracking user actions, enforcing session timeouts, and automatically terminating inactive sessions to mitigate the risk of unauthorized access.
• Monitoring and logging activities. In addition to real-time monitoring, it is necessary to keep detailed logs of user activities. These logs are analyzed to detect and respond to unauthorized access attempts or anomalous behavior using intrusion detection systems (IDS) and security information and event management systems (SIEM).

Benefits of Secure Remote Access

Secure remote access has become a vital part of modern business operations, transforming the way you work and collaborate. It’s not just about accessing your office desktop from home anymore; it’s about creating secure connections to critical business resources anywhere, anytime.

Cost Reduction Through Efficient IT Management

The first major benefit is cost reduction. Implementing secure remote access eliminates the need for physical infrastructure and reduces overhead costs. Instead of maintaining costly on-site servers, businesses can leverage cloud-based solutions.

Facilitating Global Team Building and Collaboration

Another significant advantage is its role in fostering global team building and collaboration. With tools like Zoom or Slack, teams spread across different geographical locations can seamlessly collaborate in real-time, breaking down barriers that previously hindered productivity.

Accelerating Time-To-Market For Products

Beyond facilitating communication, secure remote access also accelerates product go-to-market strategies by enabling faster decision-making processes. Given the highly competitive nature of today’s digital world, secure remote access has become a critical factor in accelerating product go-to-market strategies.

What are the downsides of secure remote access?

When businesses make the switch to remote work, employees can become confused about how to continue to work securely, leading to a possible threat to your network’s security. Here are a few other disadvantages of implementing secure remote access systems.

Potential security vulnerabilities

When introducing a secure remote access system, users are opening doors to new security vulnerabilities with each external device that connects to a company’s system. While these systems feature data encryption, activity logs to monitor employee use, and multiple permission levels, ensuring access is granted only to those who have authorization is sometimes challenging.

Technical requirements

For businesses to successfully implement remote access software, they must provide a secure and reliable internet connection – without it, employees could have difficulty accessing programs and completing assignments, resulting in a reduction in productivity.

Additionally, solution providers may have other technical requirements, such as specific host computer requirements, that businesses must fulfill to implement the technology.

Software maintenance

Remote access systems require maintenance when issues like the system stops working or needs updating occur. This means that businesses need to have an IT professional or technically savvy employee on standby to fix system issues (remotely or in person, depending on the issue) as they occur.

Conclusion

Secure remote access is a critical component of modern organizations’ IT environments, enabling employees and third parties to connect to networks and resources from remote locations. By implementing secure remote access strategies and following best practices, organizations can mitigate security risks, enhance productivity, and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. Choosing the right secure remote access solution and vendor is essential to establishing a robust and secure remote access infrastructure. By prioritizing secure remote access, organizations can stay productive while staying secure.