Ensuring Security Through Remote Working
As a small business, it is essential that you know about cybersecurity and invests where needed, as even a small data breach can prove fatal to businesses that aren’t prepared to absorb the costs associated. However, many small businesses face new challenges: they don’t have total control of the work environment anymore. If your team is working remotely from home, they’re not working in your own IT bubble. So, what can you do to ensure good security?
Education is crucial
First of all, you should make sure that your team knows what the risks are. When it comes to hacking and data breaches, they may think there is little they can do. However, training them in basic cybersecurity compliance, such as avoiding phishing scams, protecting their passwords, and making sure that they don’t leave logged-in terminals unattended, can all make sure that they aren’t the “weak link” in your chain. The majority of data breaches happen due to negligence, not because hackers can break through strong security setups.
Making security mandatory
You can still invest in your team’s cybersecurity even if they’re not using the devices you have provided. You can provide them access to professional-grade firewalls, antimalware software, and the like. Make it a rule that they not only install these and provide proof but regularly remind them to keep their devices updated, and you can even have them prove that they are using the latest version number. Make them responsible for their part in enabling a breach, and they will take it seriously.
Security through remote working: protect their connections
One of the biggest risks of working with remote workers is that by connecting to your business resources, they are opening a connection that could be a vulnerability. By protecting that connection, you can close off that vulnerability. Look at this guide on the best price VPNs to find the tools you can use to scramble the data of any connection to your resources and make sure that your team uses them on top of antiviruses and firewalls. This is extra essential if they use any public wifi to connect to work (though they shouldn’t be, as a general rule.)
Make sure they are who they say they are
When it comes to your own online resources, be it online networks, Cloud servers, or the like, you should also make sure that you’re putting in extra steps so that every time a person logs in, they have to prove it is them. Multi-factor authentication means that not only do they need their password, but they have to prove it is them. For instance, they can have a code sent to their smartphone, which they then type in as that proof.
Hopefully, the tips above should address the fears that you might have that your business is much less secure simply because it’s not all on your physical premises. The risks are there, yes, but there are plenty of ways to mitigate them.
