Your company’s data is constantly on the move. Keeping it secure isn’t just IT’s job – it’s essential to protecting your business, your people, and your reputation.
Ask any employee, and they’ll say remote work is fantastic. They love the flexibility of being able to come to the office whenever they like, go on “workations” and so on, and it can be good for businesses too, as it allows them to reduce their overheads.
When remote work first took off during the COVID-19 pandemic, organisations assumed it was a relatively safe way for them to continue doing business. Employees could simply access company network resources via a VPN, and most information interception threats could be kept firmly at bay.
Since then, threat actors have gotten more sophisticated, and security teams have come to realise that dangers for remote employees are lurking everywhere, from weak passwords to unsecured Wi-Fi connections and sophisticated phishing attacks.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, also known as VDI, is a powerful tool that creates a secure, centralised environment in which employees can work from any location, safe in the knowledge that they’re protected against the worst data security threats.
What is VDI?
VDI technology uses software virtualisation so companies can run desktop operating systems and business applications on a central server located on-premises or in a cloud data centre.
The desktop operating system and apps are streamed to users over a secure network that can be accessed from any laptop, PC or tablet device, in any location – even on devices owned by the employees.
Businesses are increasingly adopting VDI as an alternative to letting their employees go it alone because it’s much more secure. It supports safer “bring your own device” or BYOD practices, enabling people to use their personal devices without putting sensitive data at risk. It also facilitates the swift deployment of company-owned devices, while providing a secure connection for freelancers and contract workers.
How VDI addresses remote work safety challenges
Businesses have come to realise just how tricky it is to keep sensitive data safe when their employees are running around coffee shops and co-working spaces, logging in from a personal laptop using a hotel’s unsecured Wi-Fi, and so on. But what are the main dangers, exactly?
1. Malware threats
During the pandemic, most businesses assumed remote work was relatively secure, so long as their employees connected via a VPN. But the consensus among security professionals today is that VPNs, which extend the office network perimeter to remote devices, are especially vulnerable to an emerging form of malware known as “infostealers.”
These scripts silently intercept data such as passwords and credit card numbers from infected devices without the user’s knowledge. If an infostealer infects an employee’s laptop, it can move laterally into the corporate network once that device is connected through a VPN.
VDI prevents this because it doesn’t extend the network; instead of sending data, it only delivers pixels to the user’s screen. All of the processing takes place on a remote server. It also offers stronger protection against ransomware. Should an employee’s device be compromised, there’s no data on it that can be stolen and held for ransom.
2. Unsecured Wi-Fi
An employee sitting in a bustling coffee shop, reviewing sensitive financial reports, represents a huge security risk. Unsecured public Wi-Fi is the ideal stomping ground for “man-in-the-middle” attacks that intercept data as it’s being sent to servers over the web. These attacks can gobble up login credentials such as passwords, customer data and financial transaction details, and the consequences can be devastating for businesses.
VDI neutralises this risk. Because the employee is streaming their desktop and apps to their device, no data is transmitted or stored on their own laptop. The VDI only sends the user’s mouse movements, clicks and keystrokes to the server, so there’s no sensitive information to steal – all the attacker would see is the same pixels as the employee, which are useless on their own.
3. Phishing attacks
Phishing attacks today are far more polished and convincing than the painfully obvious “Nigerian prince” scams of yesteryear. Well-crafted phishing emails can fool even the most security-savvy individuals into clicking on a malicious link or handing over sensitive information, and once that happens there’s no going back.
Virtual desktops provide robust defence against these attacks, because any files downloaded by an attacker remain stored inside the corporate server, rather than the user’s device, so they still cannot be stolen. A VDI won’t protect you from spoofed credential sharing situations, but at least locally-stored files are safer. In addition, virtual desktops can be configured as “non-persistent,” which means the device resets every time to a clean, original state once the user logs off.
Moreover, virtual desktops tend to operate inside isolated sandboxes, which makes it harder for attackers to spread their malware and infect other parts of the user’s device.
IT teams can also set up some kind of monitoring system VDI users to try and detect unusual activity. If a user suddenly starts downloading excessive volumes of data, that’s a sure sign something is up.
4. Enhanced data backup and recovery
Data that’s stored on personal computers can be lost forever should someone spill coffee over it. Files can be accidentally deleted, and devices can be stolen. These mishaps can cause major headaches if it means critical data can no longer be accessed.
VDI can also help prevent this. Because management is centralised, IT teams can automate the backup process by taking regular snapshots and creating comprehensive policies for the entire organisation to ensure regulatory compliance. Recovery is almost instant. Should an employee’s virtual desktop fail, they can simply log out and log back in to start a new session, allowing them to pick up where they left off, eliminating the hassle of downtime.
A damaged or stolen laptop is not the end of the world, either, because it can easily be replaced and the user logged back in on a new device.
The reality is that using personal devices isn’t nearly as safe as it was once thought, because hackers understand that many remote workers aren’t as security conscious as they ought to be. Hence, they target them specifically.
If someone is working remotely with sensitive data, the logical solution is to avoid sending any data at all. That’s exactly what VDI does best. It keeps the data safe and secure in an ironclad corporate server, where it’s essentially indestructible.
As the cybersecurity landscape evolves and new threats emerge, VDI doesn’t just manage the risks facing remote workers, but relieves them of the burden altogether.
