5 Ways to Keep Remote Staff Protected from Cyberthreats
November 1st, 2021 by William Wentowski
In the wake of the pandemic, employers across industries have given their employees the flexibility to work remotely. However, with the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine, it is believed that many employees will either choose to work remotely or opt for a hybrid work model.
Hence, it can be said that among the permanent changes brought by the pandemic is employees working from home. According to a Gartner Survey, approximately three-quarters of the employers intend to work remotely permanently if given.
Simply put, organizations that have adopted remote working and continue to use this strategy, in the long run, must create SOPs (standard operating procedures) for protecting remote staff from cyberthreats and vulnerabilities that linger. Here, it is important to understand that when remote workers connect to the company's databases, servers, intranets via the web, they may work at a remote endpoint of the corporate office, but unlike an office environment, they aren't diligently protected from cybersecurity threats.
Therefore, employers must adopt procedures to secure their network and provide remote staff with knowledge and tools to stay protected and keep the risk of cybercrime at bay. Here are some of the best ways to secure work from home workers. Take a look:
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Invest in Periodic Awareness Training
To prevent your staff from becoming a victim of cybercrime and avoid data breaches, you should provide proper training to your remote staff, focusing on the latest cyberthreat scenarios.
It is crucial to inform them that management, R&D, and operations are all top targets for scamming and phishing campaigns, among other cyberthreats. Therefore, employees should be aware of the threats at risk to take essential steps and measures to protect their identities, devices, and confidential company information.
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Implement Home-Based VPN Connections
As home networks are easier to breach as compared to office networks, the organization must enforce and implement the use of VPN among remote working staff. The function of a VPN is to protect and encrypt data, ensuring the connection remains secure and private.
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Use MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication)
Unfortunately, SFA (the single-factor authentication) is associated with most of the compromised user accounts. Therefore, instead of relying on SFA, it is best to implement the multi-factor authentication process. Studies show that the MFA procedure can prevent nearly 99.9 percent of such threats.
This is because MFA requires two to three levels of authentication of more sensitive information and assets, which can further lower the organization's vulnerability to security threats.
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Teach Remote Staff the Basics of Their Routers
As you have adapted your organization to the culture of remote working, it is vital to make sure that those staff members working from home have a solid understanding of the basics of their routers. To ensure this, you may have to educate your workers about network security in their houses.
Invest time in them to teach and train them to set up their network to ensure mission-critical and sensitive data is safe from cybercriminals. Teach your staff to create one network for personal devices, one for personal use, and another for work devices. This helps as workers can minimize the risk of cyberthreats. It can prevent cyber attackers from hacking work devices by targeting family members.
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Encourage Remote Staff to Keep Data Stored in the Cloud
As many team members are not experienced or knowledgeable about the latest in IT and the cyberthreats they may be exposed to, it comes down to the employer and their IT team to provide maximum information and knowledge to remote staff to prevent them from falling prey to cyber-attacks.
One of the best ways to ensure this is to inform and encourage employees to keep data stored in the cloud. Though many team members will want to store work data on their home devices, which is easier and a familiar method, it should be discouraged due to the insecure nature of the WIFI network of the homes and personal devices. Also, when storing in the cloud, always choose a reliable provider who is trusted and doesn't have a history of data breaches.
For more information about how to keep remote staff protected from cyberthreats or the best cybersecurity solutions for your office and remote team members, contact us. At BTS Technologies, we specialize in remote working and cybersecurity. Hence, we can provide you with the best assistance to ensure smooth remote working in a secure environment.
Posted in: Cyber Security, Hybrid / Remote Workforce
