Remote and hybrid work increase cybersecurity risk by expanding the attack surface, exposing remote access infrastructure, and enabling persistent threats such as zero-day and backdoor vulnerabilities. Traditional security models based on blocking traffic struggle to address these risks in hybrid work environments.
The article explains the key cybersecurity risks of remote work and outlines how selectively restricting access to critical services can reduce exposure and improve resilience.
Remote and hybrid work have become permanent operating models for many organizations, fundamentally changing their cybersecurity risk profile.
Now, in 2026, COVID-19 has faded into the background for most businesses – yet the trend of working from home remains.
By the end of 2023, the concept of "work-from-anywhere" had only solidified its place in the modern workplace. Recent studies show that 40% of U.S. job seekers actively prefer fully remote roles, while 33% seek hybrid arrangements – a shift indicating that employees are increasingly valuing flexibility in where and how they work. In parallel, businesses have embraced these preferences; 63% of high-growth companies now operate under a hybrid or “productivity anywhere” model. The same trend applies to Europe, where according to the Okta Hybrid work Report 2023, 43% of European companies allow on-site employees to work from home or other locations for a few days each week or month, while 45% enable remote work for up to three days per week.
These figures confirm that remote and hybrid work are not temporary trends – they are structural shifts that expand digital exposure and increase cyber risk.
For organizations that offer remote or hybrid work, understanding how these models increase cybersecurity risk is critical. Below are three key cybersecurity risks associated with remote work environments.
Remote work increases cybersecurity risk by expanding an organization’s attack surface. Every device your workers use, from phones and tablets to laptops and computers, is a potential target and potential entry point into corporate systems. Criminals can use these avenues of attack to find vulnerabilities in your organization as a whole.
Historically, criminals have used remote workers to create an opening that forces larger-scale attacks like DDoS strikes. These are often used as a cover or distraction for more damaging attacks.
With remote work, cybersecurity risk increases further because remote work depends on Internet connectivity. Every device your employees use, interconnected over the Internet, represents a potential vulnerability. Together, these devices increase the number of externally reachable access points that attackers can probe. Cybercriminals can exploit these multiple points of access to identify security weaknesses to access your organization’s network via remote employees.
On top of that, businesses that make services accessible to remote workers over the public Internet, often through VPNs for secure access, unintentionally create additional points of entry for cybercriminals. Hackers can use methods like port scanning to locate IP addresses and identify open ports on networked devices and VPNs, allowing them to probe for weaknesses and potential entry points – especially zero-day vulnerabilities.
As a result, the expanded attack surface created by remote work increases exposure to ransomware, malware, and DDoS attacks, making remote work cybersecurity a top priority.
Case in point: In 2025, 56% of organizations experienced VPN-related breaches and 65% of enterprises reported plans to replace their VPNs within a year.
In 2024, 80% of companies relied on VPNs to secure remote employee access, according to the 2024 VPN Risk Report by Cybersecurity Insiders. While VPNs are vital tools for network security in remote work environments, they’re also highly visible to hackers, and zero-day vulnerabilities present a particularly high risk.
A zero-day vulnerability is a software or hardware flaw that is unknown to the vendor and therefore unpatched at the time of exploitation. Zero-day exploits target software or hardware vulnerabilities that the vendor is unaware of, making them especially dangerous. Attackers who find these security gaps before the business does gain the advantage of “zero days” for the company to apply a fix, allowing hackers to act swiftly.
Given that VPNs are a popular target, once hackers identify a vulnerability in a specific VPN software, they can quickly locate and attack organizations using it, raising cybersecurity risks for remote work.
As a result, a single zero-day vulnerability in widely used VPN software can expose many organizations simultaneously.
Case in point: In January 2024, Ivanti disclosed two critical vulnerabilities affecting all supported versions of its Ivanti Connect Secure and Ivanti Policy Secure Gateway products, widely used by businesses for enabling secure remote work access. These vulnerabilities allowed attackers to run unauthorized commands on compromised systems, putting networks at risk.
When cybercriminals infiltrate a network, it’s rarely a one-time event. Backdoors or hidden access points are often left behind, allowing attackers to re-enter and exploit the system repeatedly. Even after a vulnerability is patched, attackers may still have a foothold, putting the organization in a state of ongoing risk.
A backdoor is a hidden access mechanism that allows attackers to regain access to a compromised system without exploiting the original vulnerability again.
Remote work creates easier entry points for attackers because of the increased attack surface, making it an attractive target for disrupting entire networks. This shift has led to persistent threats becoming a regular cybersecurity challenge for businesses.
As a result, organizations operating hybrid work environments face long-term exposure rather than isolated security incidents.
Case in point: Though initially detected in 2020, the SolarWinds Orion attack continued to impact organizations for years after the detection. Attackers used backdoors in SolarWinds software to maintain unauthorized access over an extended period, impacting numerous organizations relying on the tool for remote monitoring.
With remote work here to stay, businesses must rethink cybersecurity strategies that rely on traditional defenses like firewalls and VPNs. As organizations expand remote access to critical services beyond their internal networks, many still rely on firewalls and VPNs to block unwanted access. However, these tools, which operate by blocking specific IP addresses or types of traffic, are proving less effective against increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. Firewalls can be vulnerable to exploitation, and they often fall short in mitigating threats like DDoS attacks that overwhelm these barriers.
In summary, security models based primarily on blocking traffic are increasingly ineffective in hybrid work environments.
Anapaya GATE operating on the SCION Internet, introduces a new approach to network security for remote work. In fact, SCION allows business critical services to be hidden from general Internet access, while selectively granting access to its employees via Anapaya GATE. Instead of focusing on “who to keep out,” Anapaya GATE focuses on “who to let in” – an essential shift that limits exposure and reduces attack risks.
The Anapaya GATE access model reduces cybersecurity risk by removing critical services from public Internet visibility and limiting access to explicitly authorized networks.
For organizations ready to elevate their remote work cybersecurity strategy, Anapaya GATE offers a robust solution tailored to the demands of modern workplaces, effectively giving businesses the flexibility and security they need in today’s digital landscape.
By combining selective access with a secure Internet architecture, Anapaya GATE addresses the structural security challenges introduced by remote and hybrid work.