12 best practices for employers

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The Covid pandemic has pushed businesses worldwide to adopt a work-from-home culture.

While this shift in work dynamics has several positives, it has also brought distant work security concerns to the forefront.

But what’s distant work security?

More importantly, why is it essential?

In this text, we’ll discuss what distant work security is and why it’s crucial. We’ll then highlight 12 best practices for employers and three best practices for workers regarding distant work security.

Let’s start.

What’s distant work security & why is it necessary?

Distant work security is a key branch of cybersecurity that protects company data when employees work remotely.

In distant work or telework, a distant worker can access critical corporate data from outside the office perimeter. This significantly increases their exposure to a possible security threat or a security breach.

Recent statistics by Twingate reveal that 59% of employees felt more cyber secure working within the office than working at home. Moreover, 58% of employees reported discussing sensitive information on work video calls.

Now, let’s explore the several security risks distant working firms face to know why distant work security is essential.

Security risks of working remotely

Distant employees are often the primary to face security threats in a company setting. They might by chance become involved in a network security incident that may ripple quickly throughout the remaining of your organization.

Other than distant employees, a private device like a mobile device and laptop also can pose a security risk.

Listed below are the highest distant work security issues businesses should consider:

Managing distant devices and employees: Monitoring what equipment distant employees are using and in the event that they’re following security protocols on their home networks could be difficult.
Insecure passwords: Businesses may overlook the necessity for a powerful password and won’t implement a password manager or policies to make sure a distant worker has a powerful password.
Phishing emails: Distant employees may turn into targets of a phishing scam. A phishing attack can lure them into providing confidential information like banking, bank card, and password information.
Unsecured personal device: Distant employees and freelancers may fit on an unsecured personal device like a mobile device or a laptop. This generally is a threat to the corporate’s data security.
Video attacks: Hackers and other threat actors can hijack video meetings to realize information or spread malicious content.
Weak backup systems: An absence of proactive maintenance schedules by your IT security team and a reliable backup system can result in financial and mental losses after a security breach.

In light of this information, allow us to take a fast take a look at how cyber security leaders and IT executives can augment distant work security and achieve higher distant access security including cyber resilience.

Distant work security: 12 best practices for employers

Listed below are 12 best practices employers can follow to make sure optimal distant work security:

1. Use advanced security controls

While establishing security controls is indeed necessary, managers and IT teams need to contemplate higher approaches with time.

To tackle distant work security challenges, additional layers of security must be deployed for each distant employee. These layers may include:

Implementing 2FA for all distant users is usually a subtype of multi factor authentication in electronic systems. Multi factor authentication or two-factor authentication often involves just the password or credentials for account login. Still, it might also contain other pieces of information or evidence, like PINs, secret questions, or other information to extend distant access security.
You can too use Transparent Data Encryption or TDE, which IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle actively deploy to encrypt their database files. TDE could be used to stop potential cybercriminals from circumventing the information bank and interpreting delicate information right from storage. An entire guideline is obtainable online on Microsoft’s website that provides you a step-by-step process to apply TDE for your organization.

These are only a number of tactics that your organization can implement for added distant access security levels for distant employees.

Nevertheless, there are also various other techniques that managers and the IT security team can look into.

These techniques include:

Signing out distant users when browsers are closed.
Stopping password autocompletes for a distant employee.
Restricting access on local networks.

2. Perform risk assessments

One other practice you may follow to complement your distant work security is to perform a cyber security risk assessment.

Here’s a straightforward guideline to assist you manage cyber security risks:

Discover critical information technology assets on your company and their impact on business operations.
Pinpoint the top five business processes that require or utilize information.
Categorize any security threat that adversely affects those business functions and halt their operations.
Tackle the very best priority security risk by prioritizing essentially the most hazardous risk first. Prioritizing assets can include data, functional requirements, hardware, information storage, interfaces, software, distant users, and so forth.
Prepare for threats equivalent to accidental human interference, malicious interception (classical hacking), natural disasters, social engineering attacks or impersonation by a malicious actor, and system failure, to call a number of.
Recognize vulnerabilities through audits, automated vulnerability scanning tools, information ST&E (security tests and evaluation) procedures, penetration testing techniques, and system software security evaluation.
Scrutinize and analyze security controls where technical and nontechnical controls could be further classified as detective or preventive controls.
Regulate the likelihood of an incident to evaluate the probability of a vulnerability that could be exploited.
Gauge the impact of a security threat considering the sensitivity of the system and its pertaining data.
Recommend applicable regulations and organizational policies and their feasibility, reliability, and overall safety.
Maintain documentation of all leads to a cyber security risk assessment report back to make informed decisions regarding budget and other policies.

3. Improve device security measures

Corporations might need to undertake work device security measures or otherwise face security issues for workers in a distant working setting.

That’s why, in lots of cases, a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy involving a private device can pose some serious threats.

So what are you able to do as a substitute?

As an organization, you may take a security measure like providing encrypted devices on your employees. Since these devices could be kept secure and maintained by the corporate, it could actually eliminate the safety risk of distant working.

You can too maintain a blocklist and allowlist of applications to maintain your workforce aware of what software they’ll use. Secondly, your IT department must perform periodic device scans and updates.

Moreover, you may obligate distant working employees to at all times persist with private and secured Wi-Fi networks as a substitute of public Wi-Fi. A DMS (Document Management System) is one other security measure you may implement in order that your distant workforce can keep their files on the cloud, thereby lowering the chance of loss from a company network attack.

Nevertheless, there continues to be much room available for keeping devices secure in a telework culture that your IT personnel can further discover.

4. Use asset management tools

Basically, asset management tools are applications that may assist you record and track an asset through its entire lifecycle, ranging from its procurement to its final disposal.

Because of this, organizations can locate assets, determine who is currently using them, how they’re being utilized, and additional details in regards to the asset.

Within the case of distant work security, your organization must implement an asset management tool because it offers you effective tracking of the corporate’s assets — giving supervisors and management greater visibility of company-owned assets.

Some popular asset management tools are:

AssetExplorer, by ManageEngine, offers a web-based ITAM (IT Asset Management) software.
IBM Maximo EAM (Enterprise Asset Management) is greater than a CMMS (Computerized maintenance management system).
Infor EAM is a Twenty first-century solution for industry-specific concerns.
Oracle EAM is part of Oracle’s E-Business Suite.
SAP EAM for maximizing the worth of physical assets for a company.

The truth is, with the assistance of asset management tools, your security professionals would also have the opportunity to map software assets, locate company-owned devices, and even track down traditional and non-traditional IoT (Internet of Things) devices.

5. Spend money on IoT & distant work security

To ascertain healthy distant work security, it’s worthwhile to concentrate on IoT. These connected Web of Things and devices must be secured.

Each device should be granted a novel identifier in order that it gains the flexibility to attach and transfer data over a protected corporate network.

One among the fundamental issues with IoT is that lots of them aren’t built to handle or manage advanced safety features. Then there may be also the shortage of industry-accepted standards, which makes the usage of IoT much more alarming.

To combat this, several services on the market give you solutions to make your IoT safer. Some examples include Thales, Kaspersky, etc.

6. Ensure distant network and endpoint security

Granting your employees distant access enables them to connect with a company network from any geographical distance.

Nevertheless, that is where your managers and IT professionals have to be sure that such distant access is authorized and completely secure.

While using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) is really useful, there have been instances where a malicious actor has gained access to a VPN. This is particularly a priority for those VPNs that use legacy firewalls.

What are you able to do then?

You may enable network segmentation, Layer 7 access control, patch internal servers, and leverage advanced threat prevention capabilities equivalent to antivirus to dam exploitation attempts.

Listed below are some more suggestions so that you can follow:

Perform endpoint device protection—secure entry points of end-user devices equivalent to desktops, laptops, and mobile devices.
Utilize EPP (Endpoint Protection Platforms) to look at every file entering the network and harness cloud solutions for an ever-growing database of threat information.
Deploy the EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) component. These allow for more protection against advanced threats like polymorphic attacks, zero-day attacks, and ransomware attacks (malware).
Implement XDR (Prolonged Detection and Response) that not only protects endpoints but in addition lets you apply analytics across all your data.

Your endpoint security software must have key components to make your networks and devices secure. These can include machine-learning classification to detect zero-day threats near real-time and advanced protection from a ransomware attack and antivirus to detect and protect an endpoint device and operating system from malware.

It must also give you proactive web security to make sure protected browsing together with data classification and data breach prevention.

Lastly, it should contain email and disk encryption to stop data exfiltration. Your endpoint security software is important because it offers your distant team an email gateway to dam phishing attacks.

Listed below are a number of the best-hosted endpoint protection solutions available which will pique your interest:

Bitdefender GravityZone Ultra
ESET Endpoint Protection Standard
F-Secure Protection Service for Business
Sophos Intercept X Endpoint Protection

7. Vet all vendors

Vendor screening is a crucial process through which a business can determine the protection of vendors a company may take care of to perform business operations.

To do that, you may:

Hire vendors with as much diligence as hiring an worker.
Consider legal and regulatory implications.
Demand for written contracts on vendor performance.
Quickly look over the analytics to see if their performance matches their claims.

8. Provide regular cybersecurity training to employees

In a recent study published by Small Biz Trends, only 31% of employees receive annual company-wide training or updates regarding cybersecurity.

As an organization, it’s best to put money into their training since your distant workforce is an undeniable asset — and without their proper training, there’ll at all times be vulnerabilities inside the system.

You must prioritize cybersecurity training to assist employees recognize phishing and social engineering attacks by malicious actors.

For starters, listed here are some suggestions:

Train employees to check for name spoofing and the e-mail address every time a sender makes an unusual or unexpected request.
Be certain that the email format is correct and see if anything is off about it.
Immediately inform managers and IT professionals if someone asks for key information like logins or credentials.
All the time scan attachments before opening them.

It could be best to contemplate making cybersecurity a part of your onboarding process.

Conducting a ‘Live Fire’ practice attack may even train them and greatly strengthen your distant work security.

This exercise could be performed once every quarter. It’ll help employees understand the importance of cybersecurity and keep them on their toes to remind them of recent attacks.

You must also educate employees about best password practices, the potential cost of a knowledge breach, and recognize a phishing attack.

9. Prepare a security response plan

Having an incident response plan is crucial. It adds to your team’s preparedness in case of a virus outbreak or cyber attack.

Your security response plan should include:

Preparation stage to review and codify the underlying security policy that informs your incidents response plan.
Identification to detect deviations from normal operations within the organizational system.
Containment where the immediate goal is to contain the incident from further damages.
Eradication where your team must discover the basis cause and take away threats.
Recovery where your team brings production systems back online fastidiously.
And lastly, lessons learned to remind the team in regards to the incident and retain whatever information possible for preparing them in the longer term.

10. Formulate an all-encompassing data security policy

Data protection policies be sure that concerns in regards to the privacy of an organization’s information are necessary and might even result in termination if one acts against compliance requirements.

That’s why you should create an all-inclusive and comprehensive data security policy for distant employees to follow.

It should include:

Acceptable use of IT systems and devices.
Duty and responsibility for the confidentiality and safeguarding volatile information.
General practices, rules, and regulations to take care of information security.
Risk management, records management, and retention.
Reviewing data processing practices and accountability of every worker.
Training and supervision of staff in handling personal data.

Within the EU, the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and PECR (Privacy & Electronic Communications Regulation) govern data protection and privacy within the European Economic Area.

Nevertheless, there isn’t any single but quite a few data protection laws that’s jumbled up and enacts data protection on federal and state levels within the US.

The Federal Trade Commission could be considered a very good source of data on current data laws which are being regulated and regarded under the jurisdiction of laws.

Nevertheless, it’s imperative to notice that distant work security for every organization may differ from each other. So, each data policy should consider the organization’s culture, operation, and size appropriate for the staff to follow and be easy to implement.

11. Deal with data-centric security

Data-centric security is an approach that emphasizes data itself moderately than the safety of applications, networks, or servers.

Data-centric security helps you eliminate gaps and keep sensitive information protected wherever it’s shared inside your distant workforce.

To implement a comprehensive data security strategy, it’s best to think about using:

Data discovery tools to realize visibility to sensitive data — each on-premises and on the cloud. It’s a business user-oriented process for detecting patterns and outliers through applied and guided analytics.
Data governance to observe the distant access of structured and unstructured data. Monitoring access helps discover violations against company policies and validate an organization’s regulatory compliance.
Tools and policies that facilitate data classification to separate priceless information from less priceless information.
Data watermarking and tagging for security classification and protection of mental properties owned by the corporate.

Data loss prevention systems to implement your data security policies.
Encryption strategies to render protected data useless within the event of a knowledge breach.

Enhanced gateway controls to limit unauthorized data exfiltration.
IAM (Identity & Access Management) to be sure that only the correct people can secure access to the correct information.

Cloud solutions like CASBs (Cloud Access Security Brokers) to offer higher access control and multifactor authentication.

And at last, you should stress the importance of continuous education of staff and employees regarding data protection strategy as humans are sometimes the weakest link in overall distant security systems.

12. Encrypt data for added distant security

Data encryption involves translating data into one other form, equivalent to a code, so only those with access to a security key can read it.

A few of one of the best data encryptions globally include RSA and AES encryption.

The RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) encryption algorithm is taken into account incredible since it supports great key lengths equivalent to 2048 and 4096-bit keys. It’s also an asymmetric algorithm, which implies there are two separate encryption keys.

Then again, AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) is widely considered invulnerable to all cyber attacks except brute force, which consists of an attacker submitting many passwords or passphrases for eventually guessing the right answer.

Nevertheless, businesses also can use free and paid encryption software and tools for his or her distant workforce, including AxCrypt, CertainSafe, CryptoExpert, Folder Lock, and VeraCrypt.

Distant work security: 3 best practices for workers

Listed below are three best security practices employees can follow to make sure optimal distant work security:

1. Keep systems updated

Many harmful attacks often seek to take advantage of vulnerabilities in common applications, including operating systems and browsers.

System updates allow bridging the gap and shutting down such loopholes, thus making them less vulnerable. That is why firms must deploy best practices for workers to maintain their software up to this point.

Software updates also include additional features which are enhanced from the previous release. It may well make your distant employees more productive and improve their work experience.

2. Look beyond the firewall

A firewall means that you can monitor and control incoming and outgoing traffic, and as such, it’s a network security system designed to stop unauthorized access.

While we’re not stating that an organization shouldn’t use a firewall, we expect that it’s high time enterprises start considering beyond firewalls.

Why?

Firewalls aren’t any panacea, and subsequently vulnerable systems can allow hackers to bypass firewalls and put firms liable to being hijacked. So should you seriously need to improve distant work security, you should seek additional protection.

Among the basic problems for relying heavily on easy firewall protection include:

Becoming a suspect to social engineering, including phishing attacks.
Coming across malicious web sites which are disguised by an SSL certificate
Lastly, there may be at all times the probability of human error and insider threat.

Within the wake of such concerns, your organization must act proactively.

You may think about using SSL VPN to access internal corporate resources and only open ports 100% critical for business.

You can too add DNS-layer network security. OpenDNS is an American company that deals with Domain Name System resolution services that turn out to be useful.

3. Look out for phishing emails

Cybercriminals can goal employees to share data and login credentials, often through quick messaging or email.

Phishing emails also can lure employees into providing sensitive information like banking, bank card, and passwords.

Although distant security measures will help employees in most of those cases, phishing defense can only work if employees proactively be careful for them.

Final thoughts

In accordance with current trends following the Covid pandemic, the longer term of corporate work is certain to see a number of distant work and telework culture, together with an abundance of a hybrid workforce.

Hence distant work security is something that corporations can’t afford to overlook.

With the following pointers and guidelines, we hope to assist you and your distant workforce achieve business continuity and follow through with a protected and protective distant work environment.

FAQs section: Addressing common concerns about distant work security

1. What’s distant work security?

Distant work security refers back to the measures and practices implemented to guard company data and systems when employees work outside the normal office environment. This includes securing devices, networks, and data from cyber threats and breaches.

2. Why is distant work security necessary?

With more employees working remotely, the attack surface for cyber threats has expanded. Distant work security is crucial to stop data breaches, protect sensitive information, and maintain business continuity. It ensures that employees can work safely from any location without compromising the organization’s security.

3. What are the common security risks related to distant work?

Common security risks include:

Insecure home networks and devices.
Weak or reused passwords.
Phishing attacks targeting distant employees.
Unencrypted data transmission.
Lack of normal software updates and security patches.
Unauthorized access to company resources.

4. How can employers ensure secure distant access to company data?

Employers can ensure secure distant access by:

Implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA).
Using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).
Enforcing strong password policies.
Providing company-managed devices with up-to-date security software.
Restricting access based on user roles and permissions.

5. What are some effective ways to teach employees about distant work security?

Effective ways to teach employees include:

Regular cybersecurity training sessions.
Phishing simulation exercises.
Creating easy-to-understand security guidelines and checklists.
Including cybersecurity training as a part of the onboarding process.
Sending regular updates and reminders about security best practices.

6. How often should security audits be conducted for distant work setups?

Security audits ought to be conducted at the least quarterly to discover and address vulnerabilities. Nevertheless, the frequency may vary based on the organization’s size, industry, and risk profile. Regular audits help be sure that security measures remain effective and up-to-date.

7. What ought to be included in a distant work security policy?

A distant work security policy should include:

Acceptable use of IT systems and devices.
Guidelines for secure communication and data handling.
Procedures for reporting security incidents.
Rules for using personal devices (BYOD policies).
Requirements for software updates and patches.
Data encryption and backup protocols.

8. What steps can employees take to secure their home networks?

Employees can secure their home networks by:

Using strong, unique passwords for his or her Wi-Fi networks.
Enabling WPA3 encryption on their routers.
Keeping their router firmware up to this point.
Avoiding the usage of public Wi-Fi for work-related tasks.
Using VPNs to encrypt their web traffic.

9. How can we protect against phishing attacks?

To guard against phishing attacks:

Train employees to acknowledge suspicious emails and links.
Use email filtering tools to dam malicious messages.
Encourage employees to confirm the sender’s email address and search for signs of phishing.
Implement MFA so as to add an additional layer of security.
Report and respond quickly to any suspected phishing attempts.

10. Are there specific tools really useful for enhancing distant work security?

Yes, some really useful tools include:

VPNs for secure distant access.
Password managers to create and store strong passwords.
Endpoint protection platforms (EPP) like Bitdefender and Sophos.
Encryption software like AxCrypt and VeraCrypt.
Asset management tools like AssetExplorer and IBM Maximo EAM.

By addressing these common questions, employers and employees can higher understand and implement distant work security measures, ensuring a protected and productive distant work environment.

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