CrowdStrike Exec Says Government Must Emphasize Importance of VPNs to Teleworkers

The Office of Management and Budget released a memo last week encouraging federal agencies to "maximize telework flexibilities" to vulnerable populations.

James Yeager of threat intelligence firm CrowdStrike, along with other experts, said the increasing number of federal employees teleworking will likely put more stress on federal networks and increase cybersecurity risks. Yeager added that the government should promote two-factor authentication and mandate the use of virtual private network connectivity, Fifth Domain reported.

The CrowdStrike vice president of public sector and health care stated that there will be employees who will not connect to VPNs and downloading applications and tools to "make their lives as easy as it once was." He explained that these actions "allow some of the security threat vectors to start to creep into critical business functions."