Going remote is something that is frightening for a lot of businesses, and it’s understandable when considering all the risks that come with it. Whatever you do, trying to control how people access your network becomes more difficult when everyone is working from a different location. Planning for human error or circumstances out of your employees’ control can also be difficult. But you can curb some of the risks of remote work by getting informed about them and putting the right systems in place. Let’s take a look at some of the most common remote working cyber security risks and how to avoid them.
Unsafe Network Connections
A lot of people seem to trust public connections, but they can be very dangerous. Public networks like the ones you find in cafes, airports, and restaurants are prime targets for hackers. Some even frequent these places just so they can intercept connections. Other hackers will even go as far as becoming network administrators just so they can steal people’s credentials.
The only way to avoid this is to teach your employees to either avoid these connections or how to use these connections safely if they have no choice. VPNs can be used to encrypt connections and eliminate pretty much all risk of someone intercepting important credentials as long as you pick the right one. So, if you have no alternative, give them a list of VPNs they can trust for the times when they have to work over a public network.
Home connections can be unsafe too, so you will have to teach your employees how to create strong passwords and encrypt their connections.
Bad Security Habits
This is one of the trickiest risks that you’ll have to deal with. Even if you train your employees, one of them is bound to make a mistake, and one simple mistake could have disastrous consequences. So, you will need to have a second layer of protection to make sure that anyone that gets their hands on one of your employees’ credentials cannot get too far into your systems.
The best way to do this would be to work with a third-party IT team like soVision IT. A third-party IT operator will be able to identify suspicious connections and activity and stop attacks in their tracks. They can also safeguard your systems by using several different authentication methods or allow certain users to only have access to your system or certain files when they should. All of this will do a great deal to reduce the damage an attack would make.
Social Engineering Attacks
Social engineering attacks are often easier to perform when people are not working from the same space. However, they can be curbed by having strict verification protocols. Teach your employees to never trust an email asking for specific information or to follow any type of link. You should also teach them how to read addresses to see if they come from someone in the company and have someone who can confirm communications with them.
Conclusion
These are all things you have to watch out for when operating a remote workplace. Take the time to learn about these risks in detail before getting started, and at least consider getting some outside help if you don’t feel like you can manage this on your own.
Share Your Views: