Creating a balance between remote or hybrid work and cybersecurity is something most businesses are yet to achieve. A recent survey reveals that nearly 7 out of 10 cyberattacks target remote employees, triggering disruption of day-to-day operations, loss of classified information, and ransomware pay-out.
With work from anywhere (WFA) here to stay and more organizations deploying virtual desktops than ever seen, IT pros are facing the imperative of safeguarding their companies’ vital digital assets for increasingly distributed workforces. As a response, C-level executives are resorting to Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) to provide secure remote access to critical resources.
One of the primary reasons driving this shift is that DaaS security solutions empower end-users to securely log in to virtual systems without retrieving data from local devices. Plus, companies can achieve this with the scale and speed WFA demands, irrespective of the employees’ devices and locations.
As a result, the odds of cyber intrusion slump while enabling IT teams to implement zero-trust network access (ZTNA) for mission-critical resources. Best of all, end-users experience the same security and centralization benefits that conventional desktop virtualization services provide, alongside decreased cost and better scalability.
In this article, we will lay bare the key benefits of DaaS security systems.
Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) is a third-party cloud service that backs up and recovers a company’s critical resources in case of disasters – natural or human-made.
DRaaS vendors simulate a company’s primary settings (physical and virtual) for fast recovery of applications and data whenever required. They can kick-start asset recoveries from any touchpoint using devices of nearly any sort. This enables companies to restore their critical resources directly to a disaster recovery site in a different location if their data centers are unavailable.
The cloud servers immediately replicate any changes happening at the primary site, updating automatically and recovering environments shortly before an outage. Moreover, to prevent data loss during failover, DRaaS providers capture snapshots of the businesses’ resources now and then.
Generally, DRaaS expectations and requirements are documented in a service-level agreement (SLA). Additionally, third-party providers offer failover to a cloud environment through a contract or on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a multi-tier account sign-in process that allows users to access digital assets only after validating their identity with at least one verification factor on top of a conventional user ID and password. MFA includes the following steps:
While passwords protect a company’s digital assets, they do leave an insecure vector for cyberattacks. Cyberattackers are always on the hunt for passwords. By cracking a single password, they can potentially gain access to multiple enterprise accounts, especially the C-suite, for which users might have re-entered the password. MFA provides an extra security layer to keep suspicious users from accessing these business accounts, even when the password is compromised.
Single sign-on (SSO) is an authentication technique allowing users to access multiple DaaS applications and systems using one set of login credentials. It runs on a trust relationship between the service provider (a website and application) and the identity provider. This relationship sustains by exchanging digital certificates and metadata, helping service providers confirm the source’s reliability.
Additionally, both parties communicate with each other through open standards – Open Authorization (OAuth), Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML), or OpenID Connect (OIDC).
SSO centralizes administering the ever-increasing number of enterprise accounts without compromising security or getting stuck in endless account provisioning. With automated credentials management, IT admins no longer need to manually monitor all the employees’ access to the DaaS applications. As such, human error subsides, and IT teams gain more time for more vital tasks.
Besides, SSO enables companies to quickly remove access to all their resources in one place if an employee resigns.
Most (if not all) sectors have established regulations dictating data storage and transmission to ensure its privacy and security. Case in point, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) of 2004 devises controls and policies to secure customers’ credit/debit card details. Likewise, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 sets the norms for confidential patient data protection.
Complying with these legislative norms can be overwhelming for organizations. Fortunately, effective DaaS security programs produce reports that are always in line with prominent data security standards. Such automatic compliance is instrumental in making corporate work more convenient.
Online threats are continuously on the rise as cybercriminals keep innovating ways to break into an organization’s IT fabric. As such, regular updates and security patches are essential to sustaining a secure IT ecosystem.
Conventional security frameworks do not guarantee timely updates or as frequently as needed, thus increasing the attack surface. Using DaaS security, however, companies experience up-to-the-moment security features as the cloud vendor ensures rapid deployment of security updates as soon as they become available. Moreover, as the hardware resides in centralized locations, this process gets more streamlined.
DaaS security patches and updates are necessary as no shipped software is error- and vulnerability-proof. In addition, the software development cycles get rather shorter than longer – often creating more exposure – and the cybercriminal base globally is expanding. Hence, automated updates from numerous threat intelligence engines safeguard organizations’ IT infrastructure and users from all the latest known digital risks.
Time is a crucial factor once cybercriminals release malware or ransomware into an enterprise’s IT framework. The longer threat detection and mitigation take, the greater the damage companies might endure. Legacy security models react slowly compared to their cloud-enabled counterparts, as the IT team could be unavailable throughout the day to respond to cyber threats.
DaaS security providers offer a dedicated monitoring crew in the subscription that constantly watches over organizations’ networks round-the-clock for any suspicious data traffic activity. If identified any, the cybersecurity experts promptly respond and nullify the offending act. This rapid response ensures limited damage to businesses’ IT architecture.
Data loss does not always occur due to digital intrusions. It can also result from the carelessness of employees managing classified information. Again, with cloud models, organizations might think they are sacrificing control. But DaaS security services provide complete control over employees’ activity. Case in point: who can access critical resources, who has logged in, and when.
Besides, through DaaS security solutions, companies can access analytical insights about data inventory, including location and condition – if the hardware is obsolete or linked to untrusted networks. Consequently, they will receive notifications in real-time and take necessary measures.
The visibility level of DaaS security platforms significantly empowers companies to monitor and pinpoint malicious conduct and practices that could plague their security posture.
Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) runs on the idea that threats exist both outside and within an organization’s networks every moment. ZTNA solutions grant access only at the application layer on a need-only basis to curtail risk and avoid lateral movement on enterprise networks.
The ZTNA model constantly verifies and monitors users’ identities, privileges and devices during data access or transfer on a private corporate network. This process does not rely on whether the user is inside or outside that network perimeter.
ZTNA masks the connections between business services, devices, and assets. Once the DaaS security system authenticates a user’s identity, ZTNA gives the green signal for access to specific corporate resources via an encrypted channel. The encrypted security adds another layer shielding everything on the other side of the encrypted channel from illicit access.
The entire process blends filtering, analytics, and logging to validate behavior and continually look for signs of compromise. If a device or user, for instance, acts suspiciously, the DaaS security provider monitors and pinpoints it as a potential threat.
This continuous monitoring defeats several common cybersecurity threats. Malicious actors can no longer exploit corporate networks’ weak points and manipulate confidential data and applications later.
Managing a remote/hybrid workforce comes with stressful security challenges for a business’s stakeholders. This nudges organizations to take their workloads to the cloud as cybercrime frequency continues to increase.
DaaS security solutions have now become an indispensable attribute of enterprises’ security strategies. Training workforces on best cybersecurity and data management practices does play a crucial role in shielding organizations from threat actors. However, that is only a piece of the puzzle. DaaS platforms help reduce any concerns regarding cybersecurity risks to businesses’ workforces spanning across regions.
Anunta is an industry-recognized Managed Desktop as a Service provider focused on Enterprise DaaS (Anunta Desktop360), Packaged DaaS, and Digital Workspace technology. We have successfully migrated 600,000+ remote desktop users to the cloud for enhanced workforce productivity and superior end-user experience.
Upcoming Webinar: Security by Design, Security by Default
Register Now