Defending the Intelligent Edge from Evolving Attacks

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Fortinet’s Aamir Lakhani discusses best practices for securing company data against next-gen threats, like edge access trojans (EATs).

Cybercriminals keep their fingers on the pulse of potential new attack vectors at all times, looking for their next opportunity. They are currently moving significant resources to target and exploit emerging network-edge environments, such as the cloud and remote workers, rather than just targeting the core network. Safeguarding these new environments, including new technologies and converging systems, is more challenging than it may seem.

The transition to remote work, for example, isn’t just about more end-users and devices remotely connecting to the network. While we have seen an expected spike in attacks targeting novice remote workers and vulnerable devices to gain network access, we are also beginning to see new attacks targeting connected home networks.

By some accounts, home-office networks are now 3.5 times more likely than corporate networks to be infected by malware. Many of the attacks against home networks focused on exploiting older, more vulnerable devices such as home routers and entertainment systems. But there are also new efforts underway targeting smart systems connected to the home environment that tie multiple devices and systems together.

Why Target the Intelligent Edge?
In the last several years, the traditional network perimeter has been replaced with multiple edge environments – data center, WAN, multi-cloud, IoT, remote workers and more – each with its unique risks. Bad actors have the advantage here in that while all of these edges are interconnected, many organizations have prioritized performance and digital transformation over centralized visibility and unified control.

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