With the growing number of organizations adopting a hybrid working approach, there is a need for different business organizations to protect their remote workers from cyber attacks. All devices connected to the organization’s network need to be secured and their access monitored to thwart any cybercriminal hackers’ attempt to enter the system.
You must also advise remote employees to do their part to prevent mistakes resulting in data breaches. Below are different ways to protect your remote employees from cyber attacks.
Knowledge is power, and when remote employees understand various ways through which cyber attacks happen, they will act swiftly to defend their business. The number of cyber attacks is increasing daily, and organizations should ensure that they have programs that support regular training of employees on cybersecurity practices.
So, before you introduce new data handling practices, ensure that your remote employees understand various ways to thwart phishing techniques. The repercussions of losing customer data are always severe and can lead to the total closure of the business. In other cases, remote employees will lose their jobs when the organization is hacked, especially if the company loses money.
It’s normal for most organizations to assume that remote employees are working with updated software. Well, this may be completely different and opposite. In every organization, employees will do everything possible to ensure they save little money for themselves. They rarely care about the state of the organization as long as they earn good money from different things like freelancing or maybe even a second job.
If possible, there should be a thorough inspection to ascertain whether the remote employees are using updated software to handle documents. Most hackers usually target the vulnerabilities in the software and use them to infiltrate the system.
Failure to apply the recommended software updates can significantly lead to severe vulnerabilities within the system. Whenever the remote employees get a notice about the available updates, they should notify the management immediately. Ensuring remote employees have up-to-date software programs helps to improve cybersecurity measures.
At some point, hackers will steal passwords from remote workers, especially when the employees are working with public Wi-Fi. What determines whether the hackers will gain access to the system is whether you have implemented the two-factor authentication method or not. Today, a strong password is not the only thing that can ensure that your remote employee’s devices are hundred percent secure.
The two-factor authentication method adds another layer of security and protects all the remote employees’ devices if the password is compromised. After entering the password, the remote employees will be requested to provide another piece of information that is usually sent to their phones or any other device connected to the network. It might be a code, retinal scan, or fingerprint.
Adopting digital ways of storing and handling documents is cost-effective for every organization. Documents can be securely stored on the cloud, which cannot be easily accessed unless someone leaks the password or a hacker cracks the password. Another way to protect remote workers from the adverse effects of cyber attacks is by providing them with an adequate backup storage.
If you run a bigger organization, you will have a lot of digital documents sent to the company’s central storage location. So, you must ensure that the organization’s servers are protected from attackers. These digital documents include employee files, contracts, invoices, and non-disclosure agreements. If the files are compromised or stolen, your digital backup will come to your rescue and ensure you don’t suffer any unexpected losses.
A strong password policy is fundamental in every organization. It controls access to the company’s critical resources, limiting the chances of the company being hacked. Passwords are the first line of defense against all forms of cyber attacks. The IT department should be provided with a software management system to generate strong passwords that are hard to crack.
The passwords must be unique and should never be derived from obvious names that are easier to predict. When remote workers need to access the system resources, they should request a password from the IT department. Giving all the employees passwords to the system resources is dangerous. Working in a very active environment is not something that every employee likes.
And if you are strict, some will feel like you are too much on them. It’s normal, and you should expect that. What if they decide to share the password with cyber attackers? That can be devastating, so you need to monitor access to the organization’s resources.
Your company should settle on the legit and excellent antivirus software that all the remote workers should install on their systems. The company can provide it to each of them if the software program is costly, or the employees can purchase it independently.
It depends on the agreements that are set between the two. While password and two-factor authentication methods are good ways to thwart attackers, without antivirus software, threats may persist, and hackers will infiltrate your system. Antivirus programs will direct you out of websites that are infected with malware. They will also detect links that appear suspicious.
Whenever a malicious program downloads into the system, the antivirus programs will detect and advise you on the best way to thwart these threats. These programs also help with scanning various files that remote workers are uploading to the central storage location of the business. That said, do not wait until it’s too late. Install an antivirus program to help mitigate these risks.
Protecting your remote workers from cyber attacks can help as it ensures that the organization’s resources are protected from unauthorized access by cyber attackers. Remote workers also have a part to play in protecting themselves from hackers. They should follow every guideline that the organization outlines without failing. With IT and remote workers working together to thwart cyber attacks, the organization will achieve great security.
