How remote employees could compromise your network

For the last few years, many businesses have let their employees work from home to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Now, many are returning to work in either a full-time or hybrid capacity. While that may be wonderful for productivity and team culture, it may bring a downside. A new survey released by Tessian indicates that over a third (36%) of remote employees may have picked up some bad cybersecurity practices and found security ‘workarounds’ since shifting to a work-from-home environment. This shows that there is a gap between what companies expect from their remote workforce and what those employee behaviors are. This gap can put businesses like yours at risk.

One of the spaces we see cybersecurity at risk is in the fusion of professional and personal online presence. This creates more of an opportunity for attackers to break into the system. Let’s look at specific risks businesses may face as employees return to work. Read on to learn how you can protect your company from cybersecurity threats with the help of OC Cloud9.

The most common tech weaknesses associated with remote work:

1. Wi-Fi Use: The use of poorly secured Wi-Fi has grown as limits centered around the pandemic have slowly started to loosen. Employees are able to work in public spaces such as coffee shops, bookstores, and internet cafes. The openness of free Wi-Fi poses a threat to users and can open them up to viruses and malware. While home Wi-Fi is oftentimes more secure than public connections, it’s still vulnerable to cyberattacks.
2. Secure Home Networking: Home offices with unsecured routers and switches are an employer’s downfall. Wi-Fi routers come with a default password that is rather easy for a hacker to crack. Remote employees should change the default password to a unique password. Changing the name of the network also makes it harder for a hacker to identify and access. Our team can assist you with the configuration of these devices. We can also help upgrade you to a secure and scalable networking solution.
3. Use Strong and Secure Passwords: Users should change default login passwords per login or service to a unique password. It should be at least 12 characters long, with a mix of letters, numbers, and special symbols. Employees should also consider using a password manager. This allows them to use more secure, unique passwords for their many accounts without having to remember them all.
4. Cyberprotection Software: Ransomware, spyware, adware, viruses, and malware are all likely threats to your company or small business’ infrastructure. Anti-virus software helps ensure remote worker security. Ask us how we can help you install Malwarebytes on your desktops and servers. We can also set it up on mobile devices — from laptops to tablets, even phones!
5. Practice Email Security: A huge amount of cyberattacks come via email, with email spoofing and brand impersonation being two of today’s biggest phishing risks. Be sure that your employees are diligent. Contact our team and ask us how we can help you add email protection and filtering for an extra layer of cybersecurity.
6. Two-Factor (2FA) / Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Add another layer of security to user accounts by using identity management tools like 2FA or MFA. Both tools use various validation methods, such as one-time passwords. They confirm an employee’s identity and ensure that a cybercriminal cannot access an account. This is the case even if they manage to steal the user’s password. Ask us about user-friendly, scalable access security platform Duo – keep your business ahead of ever-changing security threats!
7. Move Your Business Into a Cloud Environment: We highly recommend securing your tech environment by making the changes stated above. An option that ensures all of the above security measures are met and more is by moving into the Cloud. It would significantly decrease security risks and allow your team to work remotely and more productively. Flexibility, cost savings, better disaster recovery, and personalized support are additional benefits. We at OC Cloud9 would be happy to help move your company data assets and software into our virtual platform.

Our mission is to treat our customers’ businesses as if they were our own. Too often we see companies operate with IT infrastructure that is too old and just waiting for an attack. Their current systems don’t align with their company and its goals or effectively work to meet them. At OC Cloud9, we proactively protect our client data by staying one step or more ahead of potential data breaches. Our team is passionate about data security and protection. OC Cloud9 and Orange County Computer, Inc. have a proven track record of happy customers with smooth transitions into private cloud solutions. Our beginning-to-end process ensures your business needs are met through extensive research, design, and implementation of your cloud services.

Learn more about our solutions by visiting our Learning Center or speak with a member of our Cloud Solutions Team any time at our Orange County office by calling (949) 522-7709. Contact us today!