Business

Common Security Risks of Remote Work Setups

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If you’re an entrepreneur allowing a <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;newsforpublic&period;com&sol;effective-agents-work-home&sol;">work-from-home set up<&sol;a> for your employees&comma; you may be exposing your organization to cybersecurity threats&period; Your remote staff may unknowingly put your firm’s sensitive data at risk&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Working from home can lead to severe security issues&comma; including identity fraud&comma; data breaches&comma; and other negative consequences&period; Read on to discover the common cybersecurity threats remote working can pose to your company today&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Weak Passwords<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">While reading this guide&comma; you will realize that even with virtual private networks &lpar;VPNs&rpar;&comma; firewalls&comma; and regular security training&comma; your employees can still be the biggest security threat to your company&period; The human element can be the biggest security risk of all&comma; especially when it comes to making passwords&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Employees have a lot of codes and passwords to remember for various accounts&period; They often choose to list them in unsecured places&comma; like a sticky note on a monitor or a digital note on their phone&period; Some even forget to lock their computers after working since they are at home&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">These actions may seem simple enough&comma; but employees do not know that they are putting their organization’s corporate network at risk&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Hackers know that people working from home are laxer in their cybersecurity practices because they feel safe in their personal offices&period; Malicious actors take advantage of this mistake to crack passwords and get access to sensitive company information&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Unencrypted File Sharing<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Employees share a lot of sensitive data every day&comma; from client data to product information&period; This problem means companies cannot afford to use unencrypted file-sharing services&period; This mistake can lead to hackers stealing information or carrying out ransomware attacks&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Organizations must share files and data using secure file-sharing services&comma; such as Dropbox&comma; OneDrive&comma; Box&comma; and WeTransfer&period; They can also encrypt their emails to protect sensitive information&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Unsecured Personal Devices<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">When employees work from home&comma; they use personal computers to access the corporate network&period; Because some employers do not provide office laptops and printers&comma; employees have to use their own&period; This can pose security threats&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Companies with good cybersecurity usually have single sign-on solutions with encrypted tokens to keep their network secure&period; In contrast&comma; the average person does not encrypt their devices or use a VPN to access the home internet&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Without corporate devices&comma; employees use their personal computers with no security features like encryption&comma; email filtering&comma; and firewalls&period; Because of this problem&comma; security teams will have no oversight into potential issues&period; Organizations will be at risk from hackers who may use the unsecured tech as entry points&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Printing anything that includes a company’s sensitive data also puts a firm at further risk&period; Remote workers print important business documents from WiFi printers&comma; which can have features that malicious actors can exploit&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Additionally&comma; employees at home do not have access to secure <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;absolutedestruction&period;ca&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">document shredding<&sol;a> services like they do at a secure office&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Lack of Basic Physical Security Practices in Public Areas<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Employers should not leave out physical security when protecting their company’s sensitive data&period; Workers outside the office must not leave private company data in public spaces&comma; like coffee shops or internet cafes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">For example&comma; some employees talk loudly on the phone while discussing work in public places&period; Some expose their laptop screen to other patrons in a coffee shop or leave their unlocked phones unattended&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">It is an employer’s responsibility to teach their staff basic security measures&period; A gentle reminder for them not to expose sensitive company data when out in public can go a long way&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Unsafe WiFi Connections<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">An employee connecting to their home wireless network or logging into their corporate accounts using unsecured WiFi can expose your company to <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cyber&period;gc&period;ca&sol;sites&sol;default&sol;files&sol;publications&sol;Intro-ncta-2020&lowbar;e&period;pdf" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">cybersecurity threats<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Hackers near them can spy on their connection and curate confidential data with no trouble&period; Your employees must not use unsafe WiFi networks unless they have a VPN to address this problem&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">As remote work continues to be popular among many corporate businesses&comma; data security is becoming even more crucial&period; To ensure data safety&comma; watch out for these common security risks&comma; even with your employees working from home&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Hardik Patel

Hardik Patel is a Digital Marketing Consultant and professional Blogger. He has 16+ years experience in SEO, SMO, SEM, Online reputation management, Affiliated Marketing and Content Marketing.

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