Home office employees targeted by hacker attacks

As the boundaries between work and home have merged, IT security risks have increased and everyday actions, such as opening an attachment, can have serious consequences. Without the pre-pandemic capabilities of visibility into devices and how and by whom they are being used, IT and security teams operate with a clouded view.

The fact is that:

71% of employees report accessing company data from home more frequently today than before the pandemic. The most common types of data accessed are: Customer and operational data, as well as financial and human resources data. At the same time, office workers are increasingly using their work devices for private tasks.

In numbers:

• • 76% of employees confirm that working from home during COVID-19 has blurred the lines between their personal and professional lives.
  • However, 27% of them know that they should not share their work devices, but feel they “have no other choice.”
  • Work devices are now considered personal devices
  • In the last year: 54% increase in phishing; 56% increase in web browser-related infections; 44% of compromised devices are used to infect the wider enterprise; and 45% increase there was in compromised printers as a point of attack

Hackers are taking advantage of these changing patterns to adapt their phishing campaigns. According to KuppingerCole, between January and April 2020, there was a 54% increase in malicious actors exploiting gaming platforms, often directing users to phishing sites. HP Wolf Security’s threat insights also showed an increase in gaming-themed malware. For example, campaigns that spread the Ryuk ransomware via file-sharing sites were identified, as were samples of the stealthy JavaScript downloader malware Gootloader, both posing as Fortnite cheats.

During the pandemic, a 238% increase in global cyberattack volume was recorded!

What does the HP Wolf do?

In response to these challenges, HP today announced HP Wolf Security: a newly integrated portfolio of secure-by-design PCs and printers, hardware-enabled endpoint software security solution and endpoint security services to protect customers from growing cyber threats. The new HP Wolf Security platform builds on more than 20 years of security research and innovation to deliver a unified portfolio for customers focused on comprehensive endpoint protection and cyber resilience. From hardware to software and services, HP Wolf Security helps organizations defend against threats even when they are unknown. The Wolf provides layered defense against threats and can integrate seamlessly with enterprise security systems and solutions.

HP is one of the market leaders in PC and printer security and is now bundling all security offerings for its customers on a single platform. In doing so, HP is addressing the growing demand for a comprehensive and resilient endpoint infrastructure and cyber defense.

HP is redefining PC security for small and medium-sized customers with HP Wolf Pro Security, which integrates threat containment based on micro-virtualization and malware prevention based on next-generation anti-virus and identity protection. The new features are integrated with HP’s hardware security capabilities. IT teams can easily operate and deploy them.

Watch in the video starring Christian Slater as “The Wolf” – as he crosses the line between good and evil and uses his hacker mentality to show how an attacker might proceed – The video helps illustrate the impact of such security risks.