How to establish security best practices for remote work

Whether your workforce is back at the office and adhering to new safety measures, working from home or navigating a mix of both options, the reality is that you’re probably not doing business as usual anymore. The way your employees are performing their tasks, interacting with customers, prospects and to each other, has likely changed.

The so-called “new normal” brings new concerns. How to motivate your workforce even if they’re all working from dispersed locations? Do they have everything they need to succeed in their job? Are they aware of any new policies and procedures that might affect daily operations?

One of the questions on everyone’s mind is information security. The shift to remote work and the ongoing preoccupation to escape COVID-19 has created a concerning spike in phishing, malspams and ransomware attacks. This is not a matter that you can overlook, as one simple data breach can crash your entire organization.

Here are a few recommendations to strengthen your cybersecurity policy in a remote-work scenario.

Start with a good foundation

To avoid cyberthreats, it’s important to narrow your exposure to attacks and reinforce protection. One of the most common mistakes is extending Virtual Private Networks (VPN) to support a remote way of working instead of using cloud-based or cloud-native solutions.

Take additional measures to protect the tools and services used by your employees. Rely on multi-factor authentication to guarantee safe access to any communication channel. For sensitive topics, think about using encrypted communication. You can further monitor such tools and services in a continuous and proactive manner in order to get insights on unusual activities before they eventually turn into a real threat.

Be aware of what may cause you harm

Map out as many specific threats to your business as possible. These threats can depend on a variety of factors, such as the industry you’re operating in, the workplace and devices provided to your employees, the type of network that you’re using, among many others.

The most common threats are performed by organized cybercriminals, fraudsters, hacktivists and social engineers. Understanding how these different actors operate, and what measures you can take to mitigate the risks they pose, is key to protect your business. In the contact center space, social engineers are predominantly dangerous, as they will take advantage of your agents’ focus on customer satisfaction.

Provide adequate training and facilitate communication

In a remote-work scenario, communication and training are especially important to keep the entire workforce motivated and marching to the beat of the same drum.

Video training and gamification are two of the most common and engaging ways to train employees. Use both techniques to let employees know what threats may come their way and how to prevent them. Additionally, do not neglect the power of internal communication to provide information on new threats, recent emergencies and who employees should contact in case they need any help.

Your cybersecurity strategy should always be proactive and holistic. A combination of research, intelligent tools and open communication across the entire workforce should be enough to get you started. Understanding how your business environment is shifting is key to properly map out the security landscape and address threats as they arise.

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