Today’s workers are used to more flexibility than ever before, as many companies allow workers to be remote employees. There are many benefits to allowing workers to work from the comfort of home, including lower overhead costs and increased productivity. However, there are several downsides as well. One of the biggest risks of using remote employees is security. Here are some of the best ways to ensure that your remote workers don’t become a security risk.
Make a Plan
A data breach or sensitive data exposure can do permanent damage to your company’s reputation and bottom line. Even though that is the reality of the situation, many small and medium-sized businesses do not have any cybersecurity protocols. Work with your managed services provider, like Teltek, to develop a plan for security in the office and the home office. Employees should know the proper procedures for password creation, storing data, deleting data and alerting the proper people when they think that something went wrong. If you do not proactively tell employees what to do, they may make a mistake and keep it to themselves, leading to a huge vulnerability.
Keep Devices Separate
If you do have remote employees, you should encourage or require them to use company-issued computers, phones and tech devices for all work-related activities. It is much simpler to keep things secure when you own the equipment, and much more difficult to regulate activities on employee-owned tech. If your employees do use personal devices, make sure that they understand the importance of never transmitting sensitive information or discussing secret information over the phone. Data can be stolen and compromised easy on unsecured devices.
Require VPN Usage
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are designed to create a separate, secure internet connection. VPNs work by encrypting data and then hiding the IP address of the end user. Your remote employees could then work with sensitive or secret information and securely transmit it over the connection between the computer and your business. VPNs are a relatively inexpensive way to keep a business network secure without needing to invest in all new computers, tablets and mobile phones.
Protect Your Business from Remote Employee Security Risks
If you are curious about the best ways to keep your employee devices secure or how to set up VPNs for your employees, contact Teltek today for a free consultation at 1-866-9-TELTEK or 410-552-6580.