Cybersecurity tips for remote employees

With the unfortunate and somewhat hectic transition to remote work, many businesses are struggling to land on their feet. If companies are not able to adjust quickly to the new environment, they can find themselves falling behind. One of the most difficult adaptations that had to be made was transitioning all businesses related technology to a remote work environment, and in the chaos, more often than not, security was put at a lower priority. Cybersecurity is critical to the success and protection of your business, and here are four cybersecurity tips for remote employees.

Be able to identify threats

Being able to recognize and prevent potential cybersecurity threats is more important than ever right now. An article by The Hill shows that the FBI’s Cyber Division was seeing around 1,000 cybersecurity complaints a day; that number has now grown to between 3,000 and 4,000, a 200%-300% increase. While some people might have more experience with attempted breaches, it’s important to educate all your employees to be able to identify potential threats and deal with them correctly.

One of the most common types of cyberattacks is called “phishing” where individuals attempt to impersonate people or organizations in an attempt to gain access to information. An important aspect of preventing phishing attempts is knowing how to identify them:

● The emails are often from a similar but slightly different email address

●Inclusion of odd punctuation or spelling mistakes

● Call for urgent action

●Request personal or private information

If an employee has any suspicions at all, they should avoid interacting with the potential threat, and contact their IT department. It’s important to let the IT department know of any possible breaches as soon as possible, in order to avoid anyone else potentially falling victim, and exposing the company.

Secure your remote communication processes

With teams and employees spread out across many locations, it’s more important than ever to be able to provide quick and effective communication. This being said, it’s also important to make sure that you are choosing the right methods of communication for your business and that they are safe and secure. Some applications or programs have a less than stellar history with data security. Before committing to a specific service, make sure to do research on the history of the company and any potential red flags that might appear.

Choosing your platform is very important, as many don’t have the necessary security in place to handle the demand. More established platforms such as Slack or Zoom have some of the best security measures in place and prioritize customer security. Part of this comes simply from their tenure in the technology industry, and the types of services that they provide, however, it also shows that they prioritize the security of their customer’s information. Many different software provides can accommodate both the security and quality of services needed, so find the right one for your business.

On the internal side, many companies have been using some forms of Identity and Access Management options for additional security. Examples of these include Multi-Factor Authentication, Single Sign-On, and more. This ensures that there are several layers of protection, so your private or confidential information is kept safe. 

Educate employees on the importance

Cybersecurity software is key for keeping information safe, but without the cooperation and participation of your employees, your system will still be vulnerable. As with many things, cybersecurity is only as strong as the weakest link, meaning if that if one person isn’t as attentive as they should be, that could be compromising for the entire organization. Ensure that your employees are aware of the impact that data breaches can have on your business, in both the short term and long.

A Verizon study shows that errors were causal events in over one-fifth of cybersecurity breaches. While other instigators of data loss such as malware or phishing attempts have been fluctuating, accidental errors have been one of the consistently growing categories for data loss. Making sure your employees understand the importance of their cooperation and actions can help reduce the number of errors being made, which will greatly protect your business. 

Ensure your network is secure

Unsurprisingly, one of the hardest parts of moving teams remotely is making sure that their connection to the internet is secure. While not working from the office, there are a variety of places that employees may work from. It could be their house or a more public network like a coffee shop or cafe. Public networks are often targeted by hackers due to their low-security level, and high amount of traffic and information.

When working from an unsecure network, try and use some tools to help make it a little more secure. Virtual Private Networks (VPN) are a good way to ensure that your IP address is not compromised, and to increase the security of your internet connection. Many companies also offer types of firewalls for home office use, which help protect your network from “malicious or unnecessary network traffic. The safety of your connection is key, especially when working with company-related information.

Keeping both the information of your employees and your business safe is crucial while remote. While it’s more challenging, there are many ways to protect and secure important data. Enabling your employees to be able to identify and prevent threats in various forms, and making sure your communication systems are stable and secure. In addition, educating your employees on the importance of their cooperation and making sure that they are always using a secure network when handling sensitive information. Although it may not happen all at once, making these changes over time will help keep both your company and employees protected, and provide a solid remote work environment-especially important if the trend of remote work continues to gain momentum.