How Secure is Home Working?

With more people working from home than ever before due to the COVID 19 pandemic, companies are facing new security challenges. Modern technology allows us to work remotely from the comfort of our own home, accessing emails and company resources without needing to be in the office, but how secure is it? What security issues do we need to be mindful of and what should companies be considering to make sure business operates smoothly and securely?

Cloud Services

Cloud services offer significant benefits in terms of cost, easy access and security. Cloud services such as Office 365 allow employees to sign in with their work credentials and access the full Office suite including their emails, documents and Microsoft Teams. They don’t even need to install the programs as they can all function in the web browser.

However, companies must ensure that they enforce strong passwords and 2-Factor Authentication where possible to prevent unauthorised access, because if employees can access company data remotely from the web so can hackers.

You must also consider putting policies in place for what people can download from the cloud applications, because if someone downloads a sensitive document to their personal computer that document becomes uncontrolled and vulnerable. These kind of access controls can be enforced by the cloud admins to block downloads to untrusted devices and allow access to certain things only when on a company managed device.

Cybersecurity Policy

Restricting access to sensitive information is an effective way to control loss of data, but all this must be laid out in a policy to define not only what security measures are in place but also what employees can and can’t do. Also, applying restrictions to non-managed devices isn’t always a feasible option, so having a policy that employees must be aware of will make sure they are responsible for the data they access and culpable should they break that policy and sensitive data be exposed.

This type of policy is especially pertinent when working from home because many people will use their own laptops or computers, therefore it’s a good idea to include not saving company documents to personal devices in your cybersecurity policy, and to ensure they have virus protection installed and up to date. Where possible, multi-factor authentication and automatic logout for unattended devices should be standard practice, and keep devices up to date.

A Cyber Incident Breach Response plan (CIBR) should also be considered so that the business is prepared in the unfortunate incident of cybercrime.

Use a VPN or Remote Desktop

Make sure employees have access to the organisation’s cloud infrastructure through a VPN. VPN stands for Virtual Private Network and is essentially an encrypted tunnel between two sites or devices, extending a private network over a public network, allowing secure access remotely.

Some companies will also use a remote desktop service which is similar to a VPN in principle, where virtual machines are configured on a server on premises and employees connect securely to a virtual desktop. This is a good way to separate personal devices from company data and resources, as all the files and programs are kept on the server and not on the personal device. It also gives the same look and feel as the desktop in the office.

File Back-ups

Having a managed back-up system is vital to protecting files and data in the case of a system failure so make sure you have a solid back-up procedure in place for those working at home. This could be a cloud storage solution or saving to a backed-up company server through a VPN or remote desktop. Again, employees must be aware that if they save files to their personal device locally and the device fails or is stolen, those files are not backed up and will be lost.

WV Solutions

If you need help with ensuring working from home goes as smoothly as possible speak to the WV Solutions team. Our team can help educate your employees, test any potential vulnerabilities, and support with new Cloud systems. For more information visit www.wvsolutions.co.uk or email website@wrightvigar.co.uk.