It’s Monday morning and the coffee shop is full of telecommuters, sipping lattes and catching up on emails. The way organizations enable work has changed. With the rise of SaaS applications and cloud-first strategies, employees, contractors and third parties frequently access corporate assets from personal, unmanaged laptops.
Whether it’s checking emails, collaborating on documents or managing sensitive data in critical business applications, remote access from unmanaged devices has become the norm, especially in hybrid and remote work environments.
This cozy moment in the coffee shop is a potential playground for cybercriminals. Why? Because a personal laptop—an unmanaged endpoint—is a critical vulnerability that can put sensitive company data at risk.
Some workers may be employees who diligently follow the guidelines and security best practices from IT teams. However, the extended workforce includes third-party contractors who need sensitive access, sometimes without the IT team having any level of visibility or control.
These contractors need access to corporate assets while working from their unmanaged workstations. They may unknowingly introduce risk, like mishandling sensitive data or exposing it to malicious actors without even realizing it.
The risk is a serious concern for CISOs and must be addressed.
The Silent Risks of Unmanaged Endpoints
Unmanaged endpoints—personal devices like laptops or even shared computers—are convenient but often exist outside the walled garden of IT oversight, making them prime targets for cyberattacks.
Here’s the harsh reality:
- 80% of ransomware attacks originate from unmanaged devices, with 60% of those leveraging remote encryption, according to the Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2023.
- Users on unmanaged devices are 71% more likely to face malware.
- Nearly 70% of organizations have been victimized by cyberattacks exploiting unmanaged or poorly managed devices.
A striking example: A state-sponsored hacking group gained unauthorized access to a government department’s unclassified documents via an unmanaged workstation. The attackers exploited a remote support API key, demonstrating how easily machine identity vulnerabilities can lead to devastating breaches.
Clearly, unmanaged endpoints are a ticking time bomb.
Three Ways to Reduce the Risk of Unmanaged Endpoints
1. Secure the browser: Password-free peace of mind
Imagine this: You’re accessing sensitive company data from your personal computer. A secure enterprise browser ensures that your credentials remain invisible to potential attackers. It eliminates the need for traditional passwords, reducing the risk of credential theft.
Even if you need credentials to access a thick application on an unmanaged workstation, the secure browser replaces the password with a token. This token is exchanged for the actual password only on approved applications, ensuring the password is never exposed on the unmanaged workstation.
Cookie-less browsing
Also, by eliminating cookies, the secure browser ensures that no cookies are stored on the unmanaged workstation, preventing them from being stolen or exploited by unauthorized parties. Your credentials and cookies are safe, even in the riskiest environments.
2. Secure web sessions: Real time oversight
Picture yourself in a bustling coworking space. You step away to grab another coffee, leaving your session open. These moments can lead to attackers gaining access in the middle of a sensitive session. Securing web sessions with the following capabilities keeps the session and it’s sensitive data secure at all times.
A session-security solution includes:
- Continuous authentication: Even if you’re momentarily distracted, your session remains secure.
- Full audit trail: Every action during your session is logged, giving IT teams the visibility they need.
- Protection against data exfiltration: SWS ensures critical session data isn’t stolen or exploited.
- Session recording: After notifying the user, high-risk sessions can be recorded from start to finish, ensuring tight auditability and remediation efforts.
It’s like having a security guard watching over your online interactions.
3. Secure the password: Hassle-free credential security
Let’s say you’re logging into multiple managed applications from an unmanaged endpoint. A password management solution will help ensure:
- Your passwords are stored securely in a centralized vault, so they’re never exposed or vulnerable should your device be compromised.
- Automatic credential rotation ensures that even if one password is compromised, it’s rendered useless within moments.
Think of it as a digital vault that keeps your keys safe, no matter where you are.
CyberArk: Your Trusted Shield
The CyberArk Identity Security Platform is like a guardian that ensures your productivity and organizational security go hand in hand. Whether the workforce needs access on a personal laptop, at a coworking space or even on a borrowed device, CyberArk’s powerful solutions safeguard enterprise resources from unwanted intrusions. This is especially critical for external contractors who need to connect to an organization’s assets while working on unmanaged endpoints, where the risk of vulnerabilities is even higher. CyberArk ensures these connections remain secure, no matter the device or location.
A Future Without Fear
CyberArk’s solutions for unmanaged endpoints redefine how organizations protect unmanaged endpoints. These solutions offer enterprise-grade security without relying on traditional agents.
So, whether you’re working from your kitchen table, a bustling café or halfway around the world, CyberArk ensures your endpoints remain invisible to attackers. With CyberArk, productivity and security go hand in hand.
Help all of your users, no matter their device, work smarter—and safer.
Guy Yemin is a global solution strategy architect for Workforce Solutions at CyberArk.
