In today’s business environment when more people are working from home due to coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns, providing a secure working environment for your remote team is critical. This sudden increase in remote workers has been accompanied by a surge in cyberattacks by online hackers seeking to take advantage of evolving protocols and distracted employees.
Your mission is to create trusted connections for your remote team while protecting data and intellectual property to safeguard your company from data breaches. It’s a lot to think about in times like these. That’s why many IT professionals are focusing on data encryption resources to build a reliable infrastructure of protected data transmission that allows remote workers to be productive while guarding against breaches and online attacks.
Let’s take a closer look at encryption technologies and how they can benefit remote work environments.
Data encryption translates data used in emails and documents from everyday language into another form or code so that only people with access (like your remote workers) to a secret decryption key or password can read it. Encrypted data is often referred to as ciphertext while non-encrypted data is called plaintext. Ciphertext is effective in safeguarding data transferred through emails which can sometimes be vulnerable to attacks such as phishing. Encryption is also used to protect sensitive data that is transferred between employee devices (laptops, desktops, tablets and smartphones) and company servers.
While you can’t always control where or how your remote team accesses data, you can activate safety protocols to minimize the risk of data breaches. You should provide your remote workforce with encryption software to protect company and customer data by preventing unauthorized device users or unintended recipients from viewing this information. In addition, all sensitive data accessed by your remote team should be encrypted to safeguard against device damage or theft. If your employees sign into a home or public WiFi network, instruct them to use your company’s Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN will encrypt internet traffic and help to prevent hacking. You should also install remote-wipe apps on all remote devices so data can be easily erased if a tablet or smartphone is lost or stolen. Online resources like Drive Strike and Lifewire make it possible to remote lock, locate and wipe data from your employees’ mobile devices to prevent data from being compromised.
Make sure all of your remote workers have up-to-date firewalls, antivirus software and malware protection on all devices, including smartphones and tablets. Use mobile device platforms to closely monitor the operating status of your team’s computer equipment to find any security weaknesses and encourage your employees to always have the latest operating systems activated on their devices. Ensure that you have an Extended Validation SSL certificate installed on any internal web systems, intranets, account managers and corporate websites.
When it comes to data security, information is power. Continually provide employee education on password protocols and protection, how to identify and avoid phishing scams and other security issues. Also, have employees complete security compliance training so they are armed to detect and prevent phishing attacks.
Meet regularly with your security team to discuss the latest threats and to monitor and measure the effectiveness of your security protocols. Share this information with all employees and departments to ensure policies are followed and threats are minimized.
You’re not in this alone — take advantage of reliable security resources to ensure you have the best and most advanced encryption software options for your remote work team. You need a partner who has business security experience and offers reliable data encryption options that fit the needs of your remote workforce and your budget.
Network Solutions is a great choice for data security solutions, offering encryption technology, malware scanning and a Cyber Security Solution for protecting your remote team’s mobile devices. We back these resources with expert customer service and support.
When it comes to your business and customer data, you need constant protection to minimize hacking threats. Utilize encryption resources to protect your data assets in remote work environments and keep your company operational and secure for years to come. At Network Solutions, we’ll help you every step of the way.
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