The popularity of remote and hybrid work continues. Employees enjoy a workday without a commute while working in a home environment with more flexibility for work/life balance. Huge benefits for employers give them access to the best talent available virtually anywhere in the world without the expensive overhead and maintenance of a building and a physical work environment. For these reasons, many companies now include remote candidates in their searches when hiring while making remote workers central to their business model.
While the need for device and data security is essential in all business environments, the demands are exponentially higher for remote staff. That’s because users are the weakest element of any information security program. Without physical control of the workspace or the equipment, a company loses much of its ability to defend against issues with user behavior. Given the variety of potential workspaces, robust and standardized security practices and technology become even more critical.
The situation is growing more difficult by the day with cyberthreats evolving along with technological advances. These threat actors are becoming more knowledgeable and sophisticated. Fortunately, the best security solutions are still within the employer’s control.
Remote Working Security Risks
There are too many potential threats to have countermeasures in place for them all. Instead, businesses need to establish a security environment on their terms that fits their business.
Since employers do not have physical control of a remote employee’s workspace or equipment, they have no practical way to know who has physical access to any remote employee’s computer or network connection. If that employee lives in a populated area, their wireless connection may be vulnerable to compromise. In a more casual home environment, the employee may be lax in their computer usage and more likely to mingle work and personal behaviors.
Potential security issues include:
Weak home network security: Whether it’s Wi-Fi passwords that are easy to guess or wireless routers that are easily hacked from the next building over, home networks can have major vulnerabilities.
Unsecured devices and data loss: Even the user who would never leave their password on a stickie note in their screen at work may do exactly that at home. Or use the same password for all their devices. And those devices may include their personal phone. They may use unsecured flash drives to transfer files from their business laptop to their home machine, and back again. The possibilities – and vulnerabilities – are endless.
Phishing attacks: By now, everyone knows about phishing scams. But few people realize how sophisticated they’ve become. Combine smarter criminals with more relaxed users in a home environment, and you create the possibility of a crippling security breach.
Malware infections: Malware is any software intended to harm or exploit a networked environment. Like everything in the IT threat landscape, this has evolved from malicious pranks to organized crime involving ransomware and intellectual property theft resulting in billions of dollars in damages. Without the network monitoring that most corporations employ, a home system can be turned into a vulnerability to expose or infect your data.
Insider threats: Even good employees can go bad, or allow bad actors into their homes. With their systems out of your sight, it’s that much easier for a trusted endpoint to become a back door into your most valuable data assets.
In every case, any resulting financial losses to a business can be catastrophic.
Best Practices for Remote Work Security
As mentioned in the opening, remote users can expose companies to an overwhelming number of potential threats. Too many, in fact, to try to solve for them all. Instead, you need to instill robust security measures whether you have in-office or remote employees.
For Businesses:
- Remote Work Policy: The first line of defense should be the potentially weakest point: user behavior. Detail – in easy to understand and easy to follow instructions – exactly how employees must manage their devices, their network connections, and company data. Be sure to include procedures for engaging tech support and reporting incidents. Make it as easy as possible for users to do everything necessary to secure network and information assets.
- Secure Access Solutions: A centrally managed and monitored VPN with multi-factor authentication (MFA) for remote access is considered a core best practice. If you have special considerations, consult with a network security specialist. Engage experts to always know what’s happening on the network and to intercede if suspicious behavior triggers an alert.
- Endpoint Security: Company-issued equipment should have software and/or firmware controls installed and monitored. User authentication – often using centrally managed password managers – should be required to access devices.
- Application Security: Employing some degree of user authentication at the application level can boost security if those applications interact with stored data assets.
- Data Encryption: Network traffic should employ end-to-end encryption. This is invisible to legitimate users, and makes your assets inaccessible to the bad guys.
- Security Awareness Training: Routinely remind all employees of the constant presence of cyberthreats. As major new threats emerge, refresh their training with specifics on identification of the threat and how to respond.
Now comes the tricky part: making this nearly impregnable security defense as convenient as possible for employees to do productive work. That means factoring their needs into the process as much as possible and helping them protect themselves.
For Employees:
- Secure Home Network: Provide guidance to your employees on what constitutes a strong password, the value of data encryption, and the importance of keeping their own software updated, especially firmware and patches that address security threats.
- Device Security: While you can remotely manage access to company-issued devices, remote staff can mix personal and company-issued device usage; mobile phones are a prime example. Make sure they have all the information they need to secure their own devices with strong passwords and keep those devices away from unauthorized users.
- Data Protection: Provide routine reminders on how to safely handle sensitive data of all kinds, including avoiding public Wi-Fi for sensitive tasks, and being wary of email attachments and downloads.
- Communication and Reporting: Schedule regular cybersecurity training and routine communications from IT regarding the current threat environment. Make sure employees have a direct, easy-to-use way to report suspicious activity or potential data breaches. These communications should both raise cybersecurity awareness while making it as easy as possible for users to comply with what might seem like onerous security protocols.
Keep Your Remote Team Safe with Security Best Practices
Even relatively small businesses should be able to implement the best practices outlined above. With these measures in place, your business can protect data assets and avoid fatal disruption.
This will also allow a company of any size to employ the best talent they can find anywhere in the world. For example, Solvo can supply carefully vetted nearshore talent for a range of professional roles. Solvo operations include oversight of the IT infrastructure and seamless integration with the employer’s cybersecurity measures.
Enabling skilled professionals – wherever they are – to leverage your digital assets will allow you to extract and realize the full value of your data without compromising its security.
About Solvo:
Solvo drives business growth by connecting North American companies with exceptional remote workers and AI-powered tools. Our unique nearshoring model ensures efficient collaboration in the same time zone, reducing turnover, and driving cost efficiencies. With a focus on fostering a great work environment, Solvo is dedicated to attracting top talent, ensuring our partners never have to choose between cost and quality.
