Cybersecurity remote working guide

As COVID vaccinations are rolled out, our hopes of getting ‘back to normal’ are becoming a reality. Many businesses will soon be inviting employees back to the office, however, many plan to continue working from home.

What is remote working cybersecurity?

Now is a good time to check that your long-term cybersecurity arrangements are up to scratch for remote working. This means:

• Employees working from home should understand the steps they should take to keep their business' data secure (processes).
• Business owners should have certain measures in place to keep their business systems secure (controls).

Download our ultimate cybersecurity remote working guide to work out if your cybersecurity is fit for purpose.

Work from home here to stay

Boris Johnson has alluded that from the 21st June, the guidance to ‘work from home’ will be lifted.  A survey on LinkedIn has found that an astonishing 92% plan to work from home permanently or combine office and remote working after restrictions are lifted.

If you are unsure what remote working cybersecurity controls look like or you have had to relax your security to ensure employees can work remotely, then our downloadable guide can help:

Identify your remote working
cybersecurity threats

⬇️

Address any security
vulnerabilities

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Get peace of mind that your
data is secure

Do you have cybersecurity controls for remote working?

The guide explores five areas of cybersecurity for remote working:

1. Security awareness access, report and repeat
2. Security awareness training
3. Safety in the cloud
4. Real dark web threats
5. Access management & two-factor authentication

I would recommend reevaluating what you currently do against best practise. Take a look at our 9 point guide to managing remote working risks.

Perfect time to re-evaluate your cybersecurity

Twelve months ago, businesses excelled in rapidly setting up remote working arrangements. However, long-term cybersecurity considerations weren't necessarily made while ramping up remote working. Now is the perfect time to re-evaluate your cybersecurity policy and controls.

Many of these considerations do not need huge amounts of investment, it's just as much about instilling a good cybersecurity culture into your business.

Test you remote working cybersecurity

Here are seven considerations when evaluating your security policies and technology solutions:

Dedicated work devices; laptop or phone

Do you provide employees with equipment or do they use their own? Ideally employers should provide dedicated work devices – this enables you to take control of the device; what is installed and how it is set up. It can then allow you to remove access to your IT infrastructure if it is stolen or the employee hands in their notice. Employees using their own devices for work has its own set of security guidelines.

Passwords

Do your employees use passwords more than once? Do you use two factor authentication as an extra barrier?

Are employees aware of WFH security precautions?

Do your employees allow family members to use work devices? They shouldn’t! You may need to update your security policy or provide your staff with training on remote working cybersecurity and best practise.

Secure video-calling

Do you activate passwords when arranging and holding meetings?

VPN

Are your employees using a VPN while remote working? Have you checked?

Could your team members fall for a scam?

Imagine an email posing to be from your business’ HR asking to confirm sensitive data. Would your team respond or click on a spam link? You may have to wait 200+ days to find out that your IT infrastructure has been compromised – the average time it takes to spot a cyber-attack. Your team may need training to approach all emails and invites with precaution.

Cloud solutions

Have you found safe cloud computing solutions for a long-term and secure solution? Cloud servers, cloud telephone systems and monthly SaaS subscriptions - there are many technology solutions available that enable collaborative and secure working.

Download our guide for more guidance:

Remote working here to stay

It looks like many employers and employees are seeking flexible home-office arrangement. With many tech companies having already agreed for staff to work from home permanently, such as Microsoft and Facebook, this practise may continue to be adopted more widely. Other businesses have enabled employees to work from home for a number of days a week.

It seems both employees and employers have found benefits from working from home, namely:

• Increased productivity

  Many report to be more focussed and less distracted at home – we assume they don’t have to contend with home learning! This was recently backed up in a study. 
  
  

• Efficient meetings

  Also, consider an offsite meeting. Time is saved in the journey to and from. The meeting itself online tends to be more focussed and productive.
  
  

• Better for the environment

  Less travel inevitably means less fossil fuels being burned.
  
  

• Reduced office rates

  If you can reduce your office space with more people home working, you can reduce expenditure and associated rates that come along with it.
  
  

• Better work/life balance

  With the majority of workforces not having to commute, it means that time can be spent with children and family instead. It's difficult to get the right balance
  
  With remote working here to stay, make sure you have the right long-term cybersecurity in place. Download our guide for an easy five step approach to remote working cybersecurity.
  
  Download our guide to find out more: