The box on the wall is the door

Verizon’s 2026 breach report said something that should change how you think about remote access. For the first time in nineteen years, exploiting a hole beat stolen passwords as the most common way in. The jump came from edge boxes and VPNs. Those used to be a small slice. They are not anymore.

The firewall or VPN appliance in the closet is not furniture. It is the front door. If the vendor shipped a fix six months ago and you never installed it, the door is unlocked.

Make a list of every box that lets someone in from outside: VPN, firewall, remote desktop, camera hub, the contractor’s jump box. Write the last time each one was updated. If you cannot find that date, assume it is late.

Then turn off remote access you do not use. A closed port is better than a clever password on a forgotten box.