Device sharing is when a company endpoint is accessed by an unauthorized user. Device sharing doesn’t always occur because of malicious incentives, such as fraud. It often takes place in innocent or foolish situations, like when a remote employee lends their work computer to a family member.
Device sharing threats in a remote workforce environment are more prevalent since remote employees interact differently and less securely with their devices than when they worked from inside the office. Devices that were previously dedicated to handling customer information and drafting business reports are increasingly being used by multiple family members, roommates, and friends for personal tasks like entertainment, education, and social networking.
But, when family members get access to an employee’s work computer, the employee no longer has full control and oversight over what is uploaded, downloaded, or modified on the company computer. When you consider the added risks of browsing insecure sites, clicking phishing links in personal emails, or following suspicious URLs on social media, it’s easy to see how these risks can quickly spiral out of control and threaten the security of data that lives on the company endpoints.
Continuous authentication solutions like TypingDNA ActiveLock limit endpoint access to one authorized user per device — effectively mitigating company endpoints from being shared. It works by continuously authenticating employees based on how they type on their endpoint. This way, even if the employee’s login credentials are compromised, or the device is left unlocked and unattended, access to sensitive information is blocked by applying a second, continuous layer of endpoint authentication that blocks any typing pattern that doesn’t match the owner of the device.
