When your entire team worked from a single office behind a high-end corporate firewall, security was relatively straight-forward. But today, your network perimeter extends to every living room, local coffee shop, and airport lounge your employees visit.
A single staff member connecting to an unsecured "Free Public Wi-Fi" network can expose their laptop to interception. From there, attackers pivot straight into your corporate data. Here is how to secure your remote workforce without ruining their productivity.
The Risks of the Remote Office
Free networks at cafes and airports are famously insecure. Attackers can easily intercept passwords or session tokens sent over these networks.
Furthermore, your employee's home network is shared with their kids' iPads, smart TVs, and IoT lightbulbs - all of which are famously easy to hack. If the home network is compromised, the corporate laptop is the next target.
Mandatory Security Policies
You must update your acceptable use policy to include strict guidelines for remote work. This ensures every employee understands their role in protecting company data.
1. Mandate a Commercial VPN
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) encrypts all traffic leaving the laptop, meaning that even if an employee is on a shady public Wi-Fi network, the hackers only see scrambled gibberish. Mandate that employees activate their VPN before checking any corporate emails in public spaces.
2. Separate Personal and Work Devices
Checking a quick email on a personal, family tablet might seem harmless, but personal devices rarely have the same level of antivirus or administrative control as a corporate asset. If an employee's personal device gets a virus from a game they downloaded, that virus now has a direct line to your business data.
3. Implement Mobile Device Management (MDM)
Ensure that every device your company owns has MDM software installed (like Microsoft Intune). If a laptop or phone is left in a taxi or stolen at a café, MDM allows your IT team to remotely wipe the device instantly, ensuring no data is compromised.
Secure the Hybrid Workforce
Remote work is not going anywhere, which means your security strategy must adapt to protect data wherever it lives.
Are you worried about the security of your remote team? Book a Cubit cyber security assessment today. We will evaluate how your data is accessed remotely and provide a practical, jargon-free roadmap to securing your hybrid workforce.
To understand where your business stands, we offer a free initial consultation - get in touch.