5 Step-Guide to Complete Remote Work Security

“How to maintain security when employees work remotely?” is likely quite high on the list of questions organizations consider when transitioning to a remote work environment. As more companies start shifting away from on-site models, this question gains a lot more relevance.

A recent study indicates that remote work is not just feasible but could be a more profitable alternative for businesses. Businesses that opt for the remote work option have lower workspace-related expenses and access to a global workforce. Although both organizations and employees stand to gain a lot from this shift, data security has become a major concern. Working from the office affords multiple layers of security which is not possible over personal devices. Both employees and employers will have to take additional steps to ensure remote work security.

With advances in cybersecurity tools, VPNs have taken a bit of a back seat in this regard. Organizations now employ a combination of tools to secure remote access. The upcoming section will provide a brief overview of the best technologies to secure remote work.

Emerging Technologies and Tools for Enhanced Cybersecurity

Endpoint security protects the network by securing endpoint (user devices like laptops, phones or desktops) access. Endpoint security involves antivirus, antimalware, threat detection, and data encryption working together to safeguard the endpoints.
Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) operates on operates on the Zero Trust Security model. The underlying principle here is that nobody is to be trusted. It requires authentication for every user trying to access the internal network and does not assume the internal network is secure by default.
Software Defined Perimeter (SDP) controls user access to software resources. SDP creates a secure connection between the user and the software rather than the network. The architecture ensures that application IPs are protected and since users do not access the network, entry points for cyber threats are reduced.
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) integrates multiple security technologies and architectures with Software- Define Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN) to provide a centralized security panel directly to the source of the connection. This approach helps reduce latency and provides consistent security across all endpoints.

Rapid advances in the cybersecurity field translate to an ever-increasing number of sophisticated security solutions. We have only highlighted a few of the latest tools that show the greatest promise for enhancing remote work security. To keep up with the constantly evolving field, it is essential for IT personnel to keep tabs on the latest cybersecurity advances.

How to Maintain Security When Employees Work Remotely?

Now that we have a rough idea of what the latest remote security tools and technologies are, let us jump straight into the best practices to bolster security while working remotely.

1. Implement Strong Authentication Methods

Most of you reading this article are accustomed to setting up passwords for your accounts from a young age. If you use strong, unique passwords then you fall in the alarmingly small 12% of people who do the same. This is where Muti-Factor Authentication (MFA) steps in. MFA authenticates user sign-ins by requiring additional verification factors to your username and password.

This second factor is usually something that only the user can provide, reducing the likelihood of cyber-attacks.

Most MFA requests ask for factors that either belong to you (your phone or ID badge), are known to you (your password), or are part of you (biometric authentication). Enforcing MFA protocols for remote work greatly reduces the dependency on ID/password setups and increases overall remote work security. Another commonly used user authentication protocol is the 2-Factor Authentication (2FA), a type of MFA. 2FA only requires two authentication factors whereas MFA can ask for two or more.

However, it is essential to remember that good password practices can only help bolster overall security and should not be disregarded. Some easy-to-follow steps to increase your password security are

Do not reuse old passwords
Change password every few months
Avoid using common words/phrases in your passwords
And lastly, do not share your passwords

A strong password along with MFA is essential to maintain the integrity of remote work environments.

2. Use Secure Connections

Wireless connections are both the bane and boon of modern connectivity. Having unrestricted access to the internet at the palm of your hand is beneficial in so many ways that it can be its own article. The downside to all of this is that your unprotected network can be easily infiltrated. From the perspective of organizations adopting remote work models, this singular downside is impactful enough to overshadow all the benefits that wireless connections and remote work may provide. Unsecured networks can compromise organizational data integrity and security, causing disruptions to services.

Fortunately, this can be mitigated by securing your network and using a VPN. Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) create an encrypted tunnel for data transfer over unsecured networks. This effectively ensures data security by preventing unauthorized access to data during transmission. VPNs also prevent external parties from tracking data traffic by masking user IP addresses.

Depending on your organization, they may either use a site-to-site VPN or a remote access VPN. The former is a permanent encrypted link between two sites, i.e., offices or branches of offices, while the latter is a temporary encrypted connection between an endpoint device and the office site. Although site-to-site VPNs serve useful functions, it is the remote access VPN that helps improve remote work security.

We also suggest users secure their home Wi-Fi networks, which is easily doable by following the steps listed below:

Change the default Wi-Fi name and password to something unique
Upgrade to WPA2/WPA3 protocols for the best encryption
Ensure the router firewall is active
Turn off the network name broadcast feature
As we have already discussed, use a VPN to access your organization’s network to secure remote access

3. Educate Employees on Social Engineering

Many techniques cyber criminals employ to gain confidential company information can be easily thwarted by educating employees about it. These techniques mainly fall under the umbrella term “social engineering”. The different techniques include phishing, whaling, and pretexting among others.

All social engineering attacks rely on psychologically manipulating the user into divulging sensitive information, credentials, or device access.

Employees should take the time to read up on these practices to better equip them in dealing with these attacks. Similarly, organizations should host training programs and set up resources for employees to report on social engineering attacks.

4. Utilize Security Tools for Comprehensive Protection

In addition to the above practices, ensuring that your system has the latest encryption and security response features will help fortify various aspects of remote work security.

Firewalls are a secure gateway between the internal environment and external networks. Firewalls can block specific traffic if they violate predefined security tools. Fortunately, most operating systems come built-in with competent firewalls, which can work in tandem with external, paid ones to improve device security.

Antivirus and anti-malware software are among the first lines of endpoint defense against cyber threats. This software scans your device to detect and prevent infiltration and delete malicious software, or malware if it does make it past the firewall. Antivirus programs check incoming files, software, and web pages to block and delete malware. Compared to firewalls, antivirus software has the added benefit of removing malware that sneaks past the defense systems.

It also helps to use password managers to generate and store your passwords. These applications generate unique and strong passwords stored securely and accessible by using a single master password. MFA-enabled password managers ensure that only the user can access its sensitive contents. They also help increase productivity as users need not remember their passwords and can easily secure remote work.

Data encryption is of paramount importance to secure remote access environments. End-to-end encryption ensures that traffic between the user and the organizational network remains secure. It is also wise to use encryption software on the local device to prevent unauthorized individuals from accessing your work.

Quite possibly the most important tool we mention in this section would be the Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform. A competent MDM helps secure the mobile devices linked with an organization. MDMs allow organizations to deploy important updates, configure applications and software to organizational standards, and monitor and manage user devices. If a user’s device is lost or stolen, administrators can remotely delete specific files or even wipe the entire device.

The tools mentioned here can only provide limited defense individually. It is essential to integrate and use all the tools to create a multi-layered defense against any and all cyber-attacks.

5. Control Access to Sensitive Information

The measures mentioned so far have been mostly related to things that employees can do to secure remote access. This final section will outline a key practice organizations should follow to enhance remote work security. Restricting user access to sensitive information can eliminate multiple sources of data threat. Various security protocols exist that minimize employee access to data based on job roles.

Role-based control access (RBCA) dictates that permissions are handed out based on the user’s job description. Roles, a collection of permissions, can be assigned to each employee to access resources, data, and applications that allow them to complete their tasks. You can also define roles that restrict users from accessing sensitive or unnecessary information or resources. RBCA is based on the principle of least privilege (PoLP) which states that the users are only provided access to complete their tasks.

Leverage Apps4Rent to Secure Remote Work Environments

Remote work seems to be the future of business operations moving forward. Cloud computing and virtualization platforms integrate a lot of what we have spoken about in this article and incorporate it into one easy-to-deploy and use bundle. Although the final call is up to you, we suggest going with the tide rather than against it.

If you are looking to transition to a virtual desktop environment or require any other cloud computing service, look no further than Apps4Rent. Over our 20 years of existence, we have empowered 10,000+ businesses to reach their full potential. As a Tier 1 Microsoft Partner, our qualified experts have years of experience with migration, backup, hosting, and securing cloud and virtualization platforms. Feel free to reach out to us when you are ready to improve your productivity and enhance your remote work security!