COVID 19 – WFH Security Tips for Corporate Businesses

November 17, 2020

by CYBTECH

“To exist is to change and to change is accept that nothing stays forever”

Eleven months down the year and the world is still scrambling to rev up their lifestyle and adapt to the new normal. Mass closure of shops, offices, and institutions, exercising social distancing, and going 100% digital, a lot has changed since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Amidst all of the changes brought in by the deadly Coronavirus, one that happens to catch sight is the work from home culture. For long, the corporate world has been vouching for the importance of work-life balance and giving their employees the ease to work remotely. However, such a notion has only been implemented partially.

With the wave of COVID-19, changes that were to be manifested in a year or two are now part of the industry. While the managers and the organizational leaders have managed to shift their work to the home, one thing that still needs to be worked upon is the security of the system.

Working from home exposes the network to the outside world, threatening the security and privacy of data. This is where one must adopt measures to ensure that the ecosystem is well-protected and free from hacks. In case you aren’t sure how here are five security tips to keep in mind when cultivating the work from home culture.

Five Security Tips for Corporate World

Prioritize Company Laptops

No matter how trivial and expensive this sounds, it is important to equip your staff with office laptops. The fact that using personal laptops aren’t secured and might even run the risk of losing potential data, office laptops are directly controlled by the organization.

Corporate leaders can make sure that every laptop is secured. They can also run patch updates remotely, safeguarding the entire network. One thing to note here is that users are required to accept the updates to be installed within the device.

Have a VPN installed

Though office laptops are fully equipped with security and one doesn’t have to worry about the same. However, it is not possible for deter significant attacks. Intruders might evade privacy and gain access. To avoid the above, have a VPN installed within the company network. Also, make sure every employee logs into the network before starting to work.

VPNs are highly effective as they add a significant layer of security, masking location and building a tunnel between the user and the remote server. This prevents unauthorized access or illegal intrusions, strongarming the infrastructure.

Log off devices when not in use

Inadvertently accessing the system to gain information is something that happens all the time. It is important to lock the system when not in use. Strictly ask your employees to be at the system when it is logged. In any case, if they have to leave or are not working, either set a screen lock or log out of the network.

Use Company-approved applications

Given the work from home rising in prominence, video conferencing has been the best way to connect and meet employees all across the globe. While this simplifies the communication channel, making it easy to connect and collaborate, it is also vulnerable to attacks and cybercrimes. Uninvited guests often gain access to the system and steal significant business information. Hence it is important to mandate the usage of company-approved applications for all sorts of interaction and engagement.

Restrict Document Access

Employees working from home and data stored in the cloud for ubiquitous access. Sounds fascinating, but it is not the right way to safeguard your data. It is a good practice to restrict access to the document and allow it to those who require it.

Conclusion

The steps mentioned might appear to be simple and not appropriate. However, it is these small things that miss our attention and we end up compromising the security. Make sure you do not do this mistake.

We, at Dual Layer IT Solutions Ltd put lots of emphasis on security for our clientele and acquaintances and provide custom built security services and safe practices training.

Contact us at +852 3700 9988