Working remotely has forced much of the global workforce to adapt to a new way of working. Whether you prefer working from home or returning to the office, one thing is constant: security has never been more critical than it is now. Organizations can achieve consistency across all its devices by deploying a desktop operating system housed on a cloud server. Thanks to the introduction of Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), secure virtual workspaces as a hosted Windows environment are a reality.
VDI is a modern-day computer terminal that you access over the internet, except instead of being character-based and having a green screen, it has a graphical interface and a mouse. However, because it just uses your browser, it is simply the keyboard and display, with the CPU and software really located in another data center. With a VDI, everyone in your business may view their entire Windows desktop via a browser with nothing special installed on their individual or an organizational computer.
VDI offers organizations several benefits:
In contrast to typical office computing, with a VDI, all data is saved in a secure data center rather than on endpoint devices. If a device is lost or stolen, criminals cannot access any data on it. Any temporary files are also deleted when the virtual machine is shut down. This helps to keep malware and viruses out of your network. Because each virtual desktop benefits from the strict security safeguards that come with cloud hosting, they are typically more difficult for hackers to exploit.
With a VDI, programs, files, and data can be accessed from any endpoint device. The risk of losing important data is also minimized. If employees have applications saved locally and anything occurs to the computer, they risk losing data if it isn't backed up regularly. With a VDI, if they switch to a new device, they simply log in to the virtual desktop environment and everything will be as they need it.
Virtual desktops have the advantage of being controlled by your IT provider, both internally and externally. A centralized data center manages virtual desktops. Many organizations have also chosen virtual desktops because they reduce the need for upgrades and new program installs on individual PCs. Your IT staff can perform any upgrades whenever it is convenient for them, and they can all be completed at the same time. As a result, there’s minimal downtime and employees have the chance to press on with new projects that depend on certain applications. This also eliminates the chance of employees having several versions of software installed, each of which may include security flaws.
When purchasing licenses for several devices, software can become expensive. You must increase the amount of software licenses with each new device added to your network. When you need to scale up, this might cause a significant surge in IT cost. When you use a VDI, you pay for fewer licenses. Instead of issuing software to all employees, only those who require software access will be given it, lowering software licensing costs.
You also won't have to pay as much for high-end laptops if you switch to a virtual desktop. Because the majority of computing occurs in the cloud (in a data center), it makes little difference what devices are used to access the virtual desktop. If users require a new device to access their virtual desktop, a lower-spec computer will do. You also won't have to manage a physical network of computers.
It is easy to add devices to your virtual network when you use a cloud-based desktop infrastructure. As your organization expands and additional employees want more devices, you can easily increase the number of computers to suit the demands of new employees wherever they are located. Also, by leveraging the cloud, users will have far more storage capacity for programs and data than they would have on their device's hard drive.
Unexpected disasters, system failures, or security breaches can cause significant financial losses if not handled properly. Organizations that rely on hosting their computers locally across various devices can face considerable operational disruption if there is a large server outage or system failure. Such operational downtime occurs because end users must wait for those devices to become operational again in order to continue with their everyday tasks.
Consider the benefits of a VDI environment for your organization. CBS can bid on supplying a virtual workplace to assist you in improving your productivity and effectiveness, while helping you meet your organizational mission. Contact us at 800.807.0200, email or visit cbservices.org for more information.
According to Industry Research, more than 50% of office workers use three or more different devices every day, making organizations more vulnerable to attacks.
Are your passwords as secure as they should be? For many of us, self-created passwords are not nearly as secure as they need to be. However, choosing a strong password, one that will be next to impossible for hackers to crack, really is not as difficult as it may seem. The most significant component in password security is its length.
Hackers use a password cracker, a piece of number-crunching technology (or even a free software application or web service) that can decipher weak passwords in fractions of a second. According to the Center for Internet Security (CIS), a hacking program can crack a short password that is less than eight characters in less than three microseconds.
As password cracking technology has improved and grown more popular, it has become significantly more harmful to our data. What was once considered a safe password is now a piece of cake for hackers to slice through. According to TechRepublic, a seven-character password with letters, numbers and symbols would take seven minutes to crack in 2020 but just 31 seconds in 2022. That is why it is crucial to generate and manage secure passwords, particularly for key accounts such as financial and email accounts.
Until recently, we were taught that the only secure passwords were ones we couldn't remember. This could not be further from the truth: the strongest passwords are often the easiest to remember! Weak passwords are those that are too short, contain a word from a dictionary, or are based on a word or numerical pattern. Names and dates are also simple to guess, as is anything directly linked with you, such as your children's names.
A better practice is to use random words in a passphrase. A passphrase is a long string of often random words, often more secure than passwords, but are usually easier to remember. A passphrase is longer than a password and can contain spaces in between words, can contain symbols, and does not have to be a proper sentence or grammatically correct.
Passphrases are difficult to crack through brute force, a hacking method that uses trial and error to crack passwords, login credentials, and encryption keys. Many password-cracking tools work to break down 10-character passwords. Since passphrases are longer, they can be much more secure and safe from these tools. But the phrase doesn’t have to be impossible to remember. A simple password or passphrase that uses 12 upper and lowercase letters with no numbers would take a hacker 24 years to crack with brute force. A password or phrase with 18 upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols would take a hacker an astonishing 438 trillion years to crack!
One of the simplest yet strongest passphrase choices is to just throw three or four random words together. As long as it is at least 12 characters and the words are truly random without a natural flow to them, then this should make for a very strong passphrase. The best way to create a passphrase is to combine a group of words into a phrase that makes sense to you and is easily remembered, but makes no sense to anyone else. Memorize your passphrase by writing it down on a piece of paper. It should become second nature after a few applications. If you're having problems remembering, make a narrative out of it.
Because it is hard to create and remember several complicated and lengthy passwords on your own, ideally, you would use your passphrase as the master password for a password manager. The password manager can then create, store and apply long, random passwords for websites and each of your online accounts, and keep track of it all for you.
You can further gauge the strength of a potential password, by entering it at a site such as Security.org. The site will tell you how long it would take to crack that password. Another site, haveibeenpwned.com will show you if your emails and passwords have been exposed.
Even if you have the strongest password in the world, you can increase your security even more by utilizing two-factor authentication, which needs a second method of proving who you are in addition to your password.
Two-factor authentication often employs one of three methods:
Something you know: this might be a PIN code or something else, such as the answers to your security questions.
Something you have: such as your phone (which can get an authentication code through SMS) or a credit card (which you can verify using the CVV code on the back).
Something you are: biometric data, such as your fingerprint.
With password security, being proactive is your best protection. With your easy-to-remember passphrase, a password manager, and two-factor authentication, you’ll be ahead of the game.
Does your organization offer a password manager to its employees?
