Online Safety Guide for WFH Employees
You are not alone if you are worried about your employees working from home without implementing proper security protocols. Due to COVID-19, companies were forced to ask their employees to work from home. In 2022, numerous companies continue to ask their employees to work from home. However, there are still concerns about insecure employees, thus putting private and confidential data at risk. If you wish to eliminate this problem for good, then this guide will provide valuable tips to allow your employees to work safely online.
Secure Home Networks
You’ll need to make sure your workers understand how to safeguard their home Wi-Fi connections, primarily if they work from home.
Begin by instructing them to create a safe password for their router. According to one survey, 69%of users do not change their router’s default password. Allowing your employees to fall into this trap is a bad idea. Changing a Wi-Fi router password takes less than a minute and may greatly improve security.
Next, ensure your employees are keeping an eye on all devices connected to their Wi-Fi—a survey indicated that 70% of individuals never check the saved devices connected to their Wi-Fi. You can get a list of who or what is on your Wi-Fi if you download the app or log in to your account.
Finally, propose that your employees separate their business and personal Wi-Fi networks. Configuring numerous networks on a single router isn’t difficult; workers should get step-by-step instructions from their respective internet providers. If someone gains access to the Wi-Fi account, they will access any devices linked to that network.
Encourage VPN Usage
A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, is a handy tool that encrypts internet surfing to keep the user safe. A VPN, like a VPN Chrome Extension, is utilized by 26% of internet users worldwide, and many firms provide them for work outside the office. VPNs are used by 400 million enterprises and direct customers globally.
You may set up a variety of VPNs for your employees to utilize. VPNs encrypt data and hide your employees’ IP addresses to improve their cyber security. Employees may use their laptops or mobile phones to connect to VPNs, which is useful since they operate from workplaces other than their work place.
Update Apps and Software Regularly
Unpatched software is responsible for 20% of all vulnerabilities classed as High Risk or Critical. App and software upgrades are a fast and straightforward approach to keep hackers from accessing your workers’ data. When you update software, it fixes any security issues that may have occurred earlier, ensuring that your data remains protected.
Allow your employees to enable automatic software upgrades on their devices to keep your company secure, and report anything that doesn’t operate correctly or seems suspicious to your security or IT teams as soon as possible. A few minutes may save both your workers and your firm a lot of time and aggravation.
Multi-Factor Identification is a Must
Employees must provide at least two kinds of verification before accessing the data they want using multi-factor identification or multi-factor authentication, often known as MFI or MFA. Tokens, fingerprints, passwords, and codes delivered to their registered email addresses or phone numbers are examples of forms of identification.
Although adding a little additional information may seem time-consuming, Google claims that this cyber security step will thwart 100% of automated assaults.
Because a hacker needs to access several devices and is unlikely to have such data readily available, MFA is an effective solution. This verification method is reliable, meaning the right person validates devices being accessed. Multi-factor authentication is accessible for free on popular services such as Microsoft, Twitter, Facebook, etc. If MFA is available, you should require workers to utilize it on every business platform that needs a login.
Use Work Devices for Work
To improve the security of networks, most firms supply work gadgets to their employees. However, when your company transitions to remote work, it’s probable that your workers will wish to update their workstations by using their own devices.
BYOD practices, however, might expose your firm to unanticipated threats. Allowing workers to take equipment home via an official check-out procedure is preferable. Employees will perform better if they have the tools they need, and you’ll have greater confidence in important data security.
It’s also a good idea to teach your staff what activities they can do on their work devices vs. what they should do on their personal devices. Many firms, for example, discourage workers from storing personal passwords on corporate computers. Other recommended practices include keeping work and personal browsing separate and requiring all business data to be accessed via secure sources that the company has verified.
Many organizations have worked carefully to protect their personnel’s physical safety and well-being. However, it’s equally critical to take all reasonable efforts to ensure a safe cyber environment.
Use the security tools available to your staff and educate them on creating strong passwords. Encourage them to use multi-factor authentication and have their devices updated automatically. Simple preventive actions like these can save your organization money in the long run by avoiding unforeseen circumstances.
