One of the most crucial issues remote businesses and their IT teams face is protecting the company from data breaches.
As more and more companies shift to permanent remote work, cybersecurity needs have increased significantly. Organizations are susceptible to all kinds of malicious attacks, and it is essential that business owners carefully consider what they are doing to keep data and information safe.
There is no wrong time to find ways to keep your virtual office secure.
Reasons your business should go virtual
As intimidating as issues like cybersecurity can be, the truth is that a virtual office for your business is a smart move. In addition to lowering costs of maintaining a physical facility, remote work has been proven to increase productivity and employee morale. It also allows for a better work-life balance for staff who no longer have to commute or deal with the stressors of everyday office interactions.
Before going virtual, it is crucial that businesses set up a solid remote work policy, utilize collaborative tools and software, and put structures in place that allow for networking and socializing among employees. On the logistical side, you can also invest in a virtual office service complete with a confirmed address, phone number, and fax management to mind your business Ps and Qs once you leave the brick-and-mortar behind.
Now that you’re on board with the benefits of remote work, here are six ways to keep your virtual office secure while you’re putting in the hours.
Ensure home offices are secure
The first step in keeping your virtual office secure is considering the security of your employees’ physical home offices. Companies can do this vetting by designating their employees a work computer with password protections in place and helping provide essential office equipment approved for use by the company to their staff.
Remove unnecessary software programs
Before assigning a work laptop to an employee, IT should remove all of its unnecessary programs to help protect users from zero-day software vulnerabilities. In addition to eliminating distractions and keeping the machine running smoothly, the more pared-down a network is, the fewer opportunities hackers or bugs have to enter your system.
Assign permissions
Administrators and staff make mistakes. To mitigate the risks of the human element, employees must be given access only to what they need to work effectively. Each user on a network should have minimal access to protect confidential or shared data, as well as protect the network from malicious activity.
Limit third-party vendors
Businesses should limit their reliance on third-party vendors and software as much as possible. If it is necessary to work with a third party, complete the required checks to ensure they are a legitimate and trusted business with security measures in place to protect your business.
Invest in employee training
One of the most important things managers can do to help prevent cybersecurity attacks in their remote businesses is to train their employees on IT security awareness. Teach them how to responsibly navigate the internet and the network to protect them from making a mistake that could lead to a data breach.
Implement account verification
A simple way to combat cybersecurity threats is to implement account verification processes. Two-step verification is a great option that forces anyone who accesses the account to provide more than one way of proving their identity, such as both an email address and phone number. This redundancy ensures only the person who has the authorization to access a given account can do so.
Final thoughts
Remote work is the wave of the future. However, it also opens up businesses to cybersecurity issues that must be addressed to ensure both employee and customer data remains secure.
