Soft hoodies, comfy pants, endless snacks, and office space flexibility. These are a few advantages remote workers are enjoying as part of the recent work-from-home programs companies have rolled out. Some employees still benefit from these new programs, and managers appreciate the advantage of happy workers; however, it’s not all coffee and cozy blankets as one might think. One disadvantage to these work-from-home programs is a lack of cybersecurity. Most companies did their best to roll out measures to protect their networks as soon as they created the remote programs. However, nearly two years later, some hiccups are bubbling into the IT queue, and business owners feel the effects.
According to BusinessWire.com, cyber threats have increased 81% since the global pandemic started, and 79% of organizations experienced downtime due to risks during the peak season. So how are hackers taking advantage of remote working to help infect networks? We’ve got the answers and helpful tips on avoiding cybersecurity threats.
Weak Passwords on Personal Devices – As more employees work from home, personal devices such as tablets, smartphones, and laptops are used to access company documents and systems. While your IT team managed what instruments were to be used daily, this has become more difficult because more people are at home with more independence. Someone somewhere is sitting by a pool answering work emails on their cellphone. This opens up a window for hackers as they can access personal devices because people tend to use easy passwords if any at all. One way to manage these issues is to require employees to use devices that have updated and monitored VPN (virtual private network) login abilities only handled by the company. You can also push password updates with security guidelines to avoid the classic “password123”-type passwords among employees.
Unsecure Wi-Fi and File Sharing – Smartphone manufacturers do a great job of pushing updates through to users. Still, home Wi-Fi networks and routers are generally less monitored by their users. Any time your employee accesses the internet (all day, probably) while they access work documents opens a window for hackers to “break in.” Filesharing can also contribute to issues as hackers have found ways to intercept these private documents using unsecured Wi-Fi. In addition, employees often have to share files earnestly, not knowing a hacker is one click away from causing significant issues. Encourage your employees not to download or use any filesharing software that is not approved and licensed by the company.
Of course, the best way to ensure employees are protected from cybersecurity threats while working from home is to train, train, and train your employees on up-to-date tips and information on cybersecurity so they can spot an issue from a mile away. Offer online training and hold employees accountable for that training at their subsequent performance evaluation. These online personal training classes offer employees another chance to acknowledge cyber threats’ dangers and prevent future attacks.
If you want to protect your assets further and your company from ever-increasing cybersecurity attacks, call SOGO Insurance and talk to one of our helpful agents about securing cyber liability insurance and ransomware insurance.
In case you missed it: Check out “1099 vs. W2: Which one is Right for You?” to make sure you are hiring the “right” type of employee for your company.
