Security Risks Of Remote Working And Best Strategies For Businesses

While remote work has always been a thing, it has become increasingly popular following the pandemic. Tons of companies are remaining remote all over the world today. But, while working remotely provides employees with flexibility and convenience, there are many more security risks that have come about. Installing applications such as an IAM suite is just one way businesses can combat these security risks. This guide will provide you with some of the most common security risks that remote businesses face today, in addition to practices you can implement for improvement.

Common Security Risks Of Remote Working

Here are some of the most common security risks that businesses face when working remotely:

Email Phishing

One of the biggest cyber threats that businesses face when working remotely is email scams. These types of scams target businesses to open an email and provide login credentials or other private information. These scams provide hackers with information they can use to break into accounts and retrieve private information that can then be used to commit identity fraud and other crimes.

Delicate Security Controls

Security controls have become much more delicate as remote employees are now depending on their own home Wi-Fi connections. Security controls are much more than email policies and firewall guidelines. Remote workers are not faced with the same level of protection as they would have if they were working on-site. Remote employees will no longer have a cybersecurity team keeping an eye out for their employees. Businesses are typically unable to continue this same level of monitoring across different private networks in remote environments.

Using Personal Devices To Conduct Work

Many employees move files between their work and personal devices when they are working remotely. This is highly concerning to companies. Companies should be conscious of several issues that can come about when enabling employees to use their personal devices to conduct work. For example, it is possible for an employee to resign from the company only to still keep private information that is still saved on their computer.

Not Having Strong Passwords

Many companies use firewalls and VPNs. However, these tools are not always enough to keep your work safe when working from home. Mistakes can easily occur when employees unintentionally create weak passwords in an attempt to keep their accounts protected. A great way for employees to protect the company they work for and themselves is by creating strong passwords. Hackers may attempt to hack passwords to gain confidential company information.

Ways To Strengthen Security When Working Remotely

Here are some ways that businesses can easily strengthen their security for all employees that are working remotely:

Implement Password Managers

Employees should always use a password manager. This is important as they will not have to be concerned about keeping up with multiple passwords for various accounts.

Multi-Factor Authentication

Implementing multi-factor authentication is a great way to provide your business with an extra layer of protection across multiple employee accounts. Implementing such a tool will make it much harder for hackers to retrieve confidential company information.

Utilizie VPN

When you have employees working from home and connecting to networks that are unsecured, you should utilize VPN connections. Employees should only use the VPN assigned to their company. If a hacker attempts to retrieve encrypted data, they will be unable to translate it.