Cybercriminals are constantly evolving their tactics to exploit the changing business landscape, and the emergence of remote and hybrid work arrangements has opened up numerous opportunities for them. The adoption of personal devices in the workplace through bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies has introduced new attack vectors for cybercriminals, as remote workers’ devices operate outside the protective shield of the corporate firewall, making them more susceptible to malware infections and other malicious attacks.

While many organizations have focused on bolstering their Endpoint Security as a means to counter the security threats associated with remote work, it is important to recognize that endpoint security solutions alone are insufficient in safeguarding the company and its users from the ever-present cyber threats. In order to effectively secure the remote workforce, it is imperative to implement robust web security solutions.

Endpoint security solutions play a crucial role in fortifying an organization’s defences against a wide range of potential threats, such as malware infections and other endpoint security risks. However, there are specific web-related threats, which organizations encounter on a daily basis, that these solutions need to address adequately.

Let’s delve deeper into some of the most prevalent web-related threats:

Zero-Day Phishing Attacks

Phishing attacks pose a constant menace to most organizations due to their simplicity, automation, and relatively high success rates. The advent of AI tools like ChatGPT has further exacerbated this threat, as these tools can rapidly generate sophisticated and realistic-looking emails and messages for use in phishing campaigns. By eliminating the typical spelling and grammatical errors seen in previous attacks, these tools make detecting and managing phishing attempts much more challenging.

Phishing attacks serve various purposes, including delivering malware and stealing sensitive data such as user credentials. Endpoint security solutions generally excel in detecting the malware distributed through phishing attacks by identifying known threats or malicious functionalities.

However, their limitations become apparent when identifying phishing emails designed to redirect users to fraudulent pages to collect their credentials and other sensitive information. If these campaigns utilize new malicious domains or IP addresses and do not install known malware on the targeted device. In that case, endpoint security solutions lack the capability to detect any suspicious activities.

Password Reuse

Password security remains a widespread problem for most businesses. Although it is widely recognized that strong, unique passwords should be used for each online account, many individuals resort to reusing passwords across multiple accounts. In many cases, these passwords are weak and easily guessable by attackers.

The reuse of passwords can have severe repercussions for organizations and their users. If a password is leaked in a data breach or exposed in a phishing attack, an attacker gains access to all other accounts associated with the same credentials. For businesses, this could compromise sensitive data or unauthorized access to critical corporate systems.

An attack exploiting reused credentials remains undetected by endpoint security solutions. Authentication systems assume that only legitimate users possess the correct credentials. Therefore, if an attacker gains access using reused credentials, their presence may only be discovered once they perform other malicious or anomalous actions.

Malicious Downloads

Trojan horses, a form of generic malware, deceive users by masquerading as legitimate files, tricking them into downloading and executing them. Cybercriminals have devised various cunning methods to deliver trojans to users’ computers. In some recent campaigns, attackers have employed paid advertising to ensure that phishing pages delivering malicious downloads appear at the top of search results. Consequently, when users attempt to download a trusted software application, they unwittingly end up with malware.

While endpoint security solutions are primarily designed to protect the endpoint, their effectiveness can be limited when that endpoint is utilized for web browsing or accessing remote applications and systems. Since endpoint security solutions have limited visibility into browser activities, specific threats may evade their detection.

To mitigate the aforementioned web-related threats that often elude endpoint security solutions, companies should employ dedicated web security solutions that specifically address the risks associated with web browsing. With its comprehensive browser visibility, a web security solution can identify phishing pages, reused passwords, and malicious downloads that might evade detection by endpoint security solutions. Moreover, it can automatically block access to malicious sites and conduct file upload checks for the organization, thereby minimizing potential risks.

At TECHOM Systems, we have partnered with CheckPoint to offer CheckPoint Harmony Browse, a web security solution that seamlessly complements an organization’s existing endpoint security measures. To gain deeper insights into the threats that Harmony Browse can effectively manage for your organization.