How to Keep Your Business Data Secure as More Employees Work Remotely

Times are changing and more and more people are beginning to work from home. Working remotely offers some significant benefits for your employees and your company. You can keep your business running while employees enjoy less travel (and less traffic!) and working from the comfort of their own homes.

Even with all of the many benefits of working from home, your business may be at risk for some serious security issues. Here are five steps that you can take to keep your business data secure with your employees work remotely.

Encourage the Use of Strong Passwords

Your employees need to use secure passwords. While this is essential in the office, it’s even more important when working remotely. You don’t have to ask your employees for their personal passwords, but you should encourage them to change the passwords they currently use and define a policy that their new passwords need to follow.

Along with encouraging complex passwords (which might include a mix of numbers and symbols), you may also want to consider additional authentication measures. Multi-factor authentication involves not only a complex password but other measures that are used to identify the individual and ensuring that those who shouldn’t access your business data can’t get in. These measures might include emailing or texting a temporary code to the employee that they then need to enter to verify that they are who they say they are.

Provide VPN Access for Remote Workers

One of the last things you want your remote workers to do is use public Wi-Fi to do anything work-related. While convenient (as it truly allows your employees to work from anywhere), hackers can gain easy access, allowing them to then get a hold of sensitive business data.

VPN access provides additional security by hiding your employees’ IP addresses, hiding their location, and encrypting data being transferred. If you don’t already have a VPN service provider, you should consider getting one. Provide remote employees with access to the VPN and ensure that they only use it for business-related needs.

Use Cloud-Based Storage

Rather than having your employees store data locally on their home devices, encourage the use of cloud-based apps. Any apps that your employees use should be secure and approved. Additional security measures such as the use of NG-SWG to protect data and reduce the risk of cloud-based threats should also be employed.

Reset Default Passwords on Wi-Fi Routers

Chances are that many of your employees have Wi-Fi routers at home. There’s also a good chance that they’ve never reset the default password that came with the router. Any employees who haven’t done this should do so right away. If you have an IT team, have them walk employees through the process of resetting their passwords if they are having trouble doing so on their own. Again, encourage the use of strong passwords to keep potential data thieves from infiltrating the network and compromising data.

Ensure Security Software is Up-to-Date

You perform regular security software updates on office computers and equipment. Your employees should do the same for the computers they use at home to do work. Encourage your employees to invest in high-quality security software such as antivirus, antimalware, and antispyware, and have them update it regularly. You can also encourage your employees to set automatic updates, which allows their computers to install necessary updates as soon as they become available. This way, your employees never miss an update and they’re not tempted to put off an update when they’re in the middle of a project. Having the latest security updates helps to keep hackers out and sensitive business data hidden.

The safety of your business data should be a top priority. With more employees working from home, you need to take extra steps to ensure that your data stays secure. This way, your business can continue to ensure the safety and security of your business and your customers while continuing to run your business as normal.