Worldwide restrictions and containment measures to try to contain the coronavirus and prevent its spread throughout Europe are forcing many organizations to rethink their operations. Rather than travel and encounter a number of hassles, many are turning to video conferencing, file syncing and sharing, and other remote working solutions to keep their businesses running. Even in China, where telecommuting is not a popular policy, Zoom software, a telecommuting tool, saw a 15% increase in downloads in one day.
Telecommuting can be seen as beneficial to many businesses, and its adoption has increased significantly in recent years. The global enterprise file sharing and synchronization (EFSS) market could reach $24.4 billion by 2027, up from $3.4 billion in 2018.
What are the cyber risks?
Warning: Failure to consider data security and privacy can put a business at risk. In this unprecedented environment, companies need to implement solutions so that employees can work from home and still be able to access and transfer data securely.
Working from home is much less secure than working in the office. Often, personal networks are not as secure as work networks. Taking work laptops home increases the risk of theft which puts sensitive data at risk.
So, not in France in these times of containment, but elsewhere (or for later), people working from home often go to cafes or other public places to work. This too can be a security issue. The publicly accessible Wi-Fi networks like the one at your local Starbucks, are very easy to hack. This means that company information can be at risk from these “mobile” work practices. A VPN is a good solution to secure your connection with public Wi-Fi networks.
People using their own devices to work from home are also a problem, security-wise. Personal devices may not even be equipped with good antivirus software which is logically not the case for a desktop device.
So how can employees work safely from home?
There are a variety of platforms that can help your employees work safely from home. Here’s a brief overview of the services you should implement to improve your remote work security.
Web protection by DNS
Web DNS protection platforms are cloud services, which provide content filtering and anti-virus protection.
Based in the cloud, then, these products are essential for protecting remote workers. They are easy to install on a laptop and offer ideal protection for working from home.
DNS web protection services come with reporting, so you can be sure that everyone is surfing the web safely and according to company policy during working hours.
Some platforms offer to filter employee web behavior during work hours, but not after. This allows users to use work devices for personal tasks, such as shopping or social networking, while providing adequate protection.
Professional Password Manager
This is important for all employees, but even more so for those working from home. These platforms handle complex passwords without you having to remember them. This ensures that all accounts are secure. It prevents employees from using the same passwords, or easily guessed passwords, for all their accounts.
This is important because it ensures that they follow the company’s password policy. Many password managers also allow administrators to set password policies so that passwords have a certain length and must be updated after a certain time, for example.
Email encryption
If you work with people who work from home, chances are you send a lot of emails. These will probably contain sensitive company information that needs to be protected. Email encryption platforms are a great way to do this.
It is very easy to send internal emails when both the sender and the recipient use the same encryption service. Both parties will need to verify their identity before accessing it but the email is readable in Outlook. This means that even if a telecommuting device is lost or stolen, email communications and attachments remain secure.
These platforms also allow admins to know who employees are sending encrypted emails to. This reduces the risk of employees sharing restricted content without authorization…
Computer security training
Security awareness training tools test your ability to spot malicious emails. They send out fake phishing attempts, to see where people need more training and security awareness. These tools then provide training to the people who need it, so they are better protected against real threats.
It’s critical that people who telecommute are educated about security, as they can’t ask for a second opinion from the people who would be next to them in the office, so they need to be able to tell if an email is fake or genuine. The training materials provided by a good platform can improve your company’s security, and are a great way to combat these threats.
Using these products can help strengthen your organization’s security for employees working from home. If you represent a small business, many vendors may offer an Essentials package, which bundles some of these platforms.
Having trouble installing security software on your employees’ workstations? Call on freelance security specialists to get help.