Although many businesses have been reluctant to allow staff to work from home in the past, it became unavoidable during lockdown. However, operating remotely has since proved to be beneficial for both employees and employers. With cost and time savings available, it’s a perk many companies will permanently offer post-lockdown.
Whether your staff will continue working from home full-time or part-time, it’s important to widen your online security systems to cover your employee’s remote locations. The threat of cybercrime is prevalent for all businesses, with 3,445 falling victim to online scams from 2019 to 2020. The rise of homeworking created even more opportunities for hackers, as there was a 31% increase in cybercrime cases at the height of lockdown.
To keep your company protected from cyber-attacks while employees work from home, here are six online security measures to put in place.
1) Outsource IT support
Suppose you don’t have a dedicated employee to manage your cybersecurity. In that case, you can outsource this task to an IT management firm that will effectively protect your business from cyber threats and quickly respond to unusual activity.
The IT support company Custard Technical Services can assess whether your current working from home technology and software setup is secure. The team of tech support professionals offer a range of online security solutions, including data protection, gatekeeper wireless authentication, and email and spam protection.
2) Secure devices
Provide employees with work-specific devices protected by preventative software such as firewalls and anti-virus. Leaving them to use personal equipment, which may be less secure, could result in corporate data getting compromised.
If necessary, provide staff members with USB drives or memory cards to transfer files, as using openly shared data storage devices can infect the computer with malware.
3) Install updates
Regularly conducting updates of software and operating systems will mitigate any security vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. If you’re concerned your staff members may forget to install updates when required, set them to run automatically
4) Two-factor authentication
As well as setting strong and unique passwords, activating two-factor authentication helps protect your data from hackers. This method incorporates another layer of security, such as a thumbprint scan, security question, or a text verification code. You could also use multi-factor authentication, which usually consists of three to four security means.
5) Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN)
By using a VPN service, remote workers can securely access your company’s online resources from any location. It encrypts all your online activities too, making your data unreadable and untraceable to anyone outside the network.
6) Raise awareness
Ensure your employees are aware of possible cybersecurity risks such as phishing emails, hyperlinks from unknown sources, or online forms requesting personal details. Inform them of how and who to report anything suspicious.
With cybercrime techniques constantly advancing and threats become more common, you must keep up-to-date with online security methods to protect your business’s data.
