Working from home will become the new norm, whether self-employed, working for a small business, or a large multinational. Yet even in these challenging times, we’ve seen cyber criminals preying on people’s fears, using the Coronavirus as another opportunity. For this reason, business owners need to ask themselves,
Working from home means connecting your devices to unfamiliar networks. Protecting your organisation’s confidential data from cyber criminals who try to hack into insecure Wi-Fi networks is crucial.
Working from home often means using your own devices to complete work tasks. Naturally, these devices won’t come with the business network and effective antivirus software you have in the office. This increases the risk of malware finding its way onto devices and leaking critical information.
What can you do to protect yourself and your remote workers?
When working with sensitive information, your Wi-Fi must be secured. The best way to do this is to ensure your employees have set a complex password on their home network. Read our article on how to set strong passwords ›› For maximum protection, please choose WPA2-AES when selecting the security settings on your Wi-Fi router. This makes sure everything you send is encrypted and almost impossible to hack.
Provide employees with secure remote connectivity so they can continue working as usual and access the files they need. This should include the provision of secure remote VPN (Virtual Private Network) solutions for accessing internal company resources and extending Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), Sandboxing, Threat Emulation and URL Filtering services, where appropriate. VPNs will improve your overall online privacy. A VPN encrypts all your internet traffic, making it unreadable to anyone who intercepts it. This keeps it away from the prying eyes of hackers.
You can adopt multiple online collaboration tools to offer real-time team communication. Platforms like Slack, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams will allow your employees to chat with colleagues, assign tasks and deadlines and work on documents together. Microsoft Office 365 is an efficient cloud-based collaboration tool to make communication seamless ››
Strong antivirus software can act as the next line of defense by detecting and blocking known malware. Even if malware does manage to find its way onto your device, an antivirus may be able to detect and, in some cases, remove it.
The arrival of COVID-19 has increased cyber attacks, including sophisticated phishing emails. Cyber criminals are using the rise of remote working to cash in on the trend. Phishing emails will likely target remote workers to steal their personal information or gain access to company accounts. Ensure your employees are trained and know how to spot a phishing email. Some easy giveaways are the sender’s email address, checking for spelling errors and looking for poor grammar in the subject line and email body. Please read our article to learn more about the sophistication of phishing emails ››
Sometimes, a strong password just isn’t enough. Two-factor authentication (2FA) and two-step verification (2SV) involve an additional step to add protection to your accounts. The extra step could be an email or text message confirmation, a biometric method such as facial recognition or a fingerprint scan, or something physical, such as a USB fob. These prevention methods ensure your data/information is truly secure.
CyberOne has continued to excel by building trusted partnerships and supporting clients’ long-term best interests. Given many businesses’ significant challenges, we trust you find this guidance useful. Operating 24x7, our dedicated team of experts is always on hand to answer any questions you may have. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.
CyberOne is a government-approved Cyber Security and IT Managed Service Provider, supporting clients 24x7 from our ISO27001-accredited UK Security & Network Operations Centre.