Guide: How To Protect Your Remote Employees 

Remote working has settled in our lives and does not seem to be leaving. The reason is simple. Remote working has so many benefits which are indisputable. First of all, it provides a more flexible working environment. When working remotely, one has no more strict adherence to physical spaces such as offices or other buildings. 

The main advantage of this is the ease of employment. Employers and employees no longer depend on the locations. It develops both employer’s and employee’s portfolios. While companies can employ people regardless of their location, employees can work in their dream job without the need of moving to another city or country. 

 

Remote Workforce Security Requirements

Switching to remote or hybrid work requires new tools and policies. Because there is no way to maintain security and business while implementing the same strategies that are used for on-premises working. It is crucial to recognize the need for a new system to succeed in hybrid workplaces. Even if companies have control over the office borders, they can’t manage the computers and smartphones of remote employees. 

Despite the size of a business, the prior concern is usually data security. If businesses overlook the human factor, it can be catastrophic for both their financials and reputation. Even the most responsible employee can forget something and make a mistake. It does not need to be deliberate. 

 

4 Ways To Protect Hybrid Workforce

1.Remote Access VPN 

For the benefit of their success and reputation, enterprises must protect their hybrid workforce security. One of the ways to provide it is to shield your private data by remote access VPN.  VPN creates a tunnel between an enterprise’s resources and the remote workforce. Thanks to this tunnel, data has been protected while transferring. Because this VPN tunnel encrypts the private data and reduces the data leakage risk to almost zero. 

Accessing a company’s data resources is excessively important for hybrid employees. They can not run their businesses without it. Companies prefer to use cloud-based resources to facilitate remote access. But, all these online factors increase the risk of a data breach. To protect an enterprise from a data breach or malicious attack, businesses prefer VPNs. 

Remote Access VPN can recognize who has access to which resource. This provides visibility to employers and they can detect any suspicious activities. Enterprises can also restrict access and regulate authorizations according to their requirements. 

Another benefit of using remote working VPNs is that it is affordable when compared to other traditional hardware systems. So, all enterprises, regardless of their scales, can adopt remote working VPN and take their cyber security to the next level. 

 

2.Keep Learning & Training

Enterprises must be aware of new technologies, policies, and other requirements about security. If and only they keep themself updated, they can raise their worforce’s awareness of security. Getting help from an IT specialist may be a good idea. Because, besides the other workload, it can be challenging for them to meet security requirements. But if there is a specific person in there to take care of online security, it will not be a problem anymore. 

 

Make a Plan

Training is important for both on-premises and hybrid workplaces. But when it comes to hybrid work, importance has accelerated. First, enterprises need a plan. They should determine their purpose, techniques, and requirements to accomplish security. Depending on their job definition, they can vary their learning objectives. General training is not adequate for total security. Because some roles need further education and enterprises must train their staff in line with their job definitions. 

After drawing a security roadmap, training methods should be determined. Presentation and distributing documents are traditional ones. But they need to keep in their mind that they address a hybrid workforce so learning methods should be appropriate for remote working. 

 

Execute a Plan

Now it’s time to execute a hybrid workforce training plan. Without implementing it properly, it means nothing. So, we recommend being strict with your policies and predetermined plans. It gives permanence and scalability to your business. Another component of performing a successful training is evaluation. Check if your plan goes well or not. There is always a space for changing something or adapting to new necessities.

 

3.Zero Trust Security

Zero Trust eliminates privileges. In a traditional working environment and security model, enterprises consider inside actors trustful and perceive only outsiders as dangerous. But it is a huge handicap because even if they do not intend to harm security, they can cause it by negligence. Zero Trust, as you can infer from its name, is a model that trusts no one. Even if an inside user wants to access any data resource, they need authentication. It does not matter if they are in the network or not. Zero Trust always asks for authentication. 

It provides two or more layered security. The hybrid workforce usually works with their own device, use public Wi-fi, and are exposed to risky external factors. Zero Trust, with its tenet of trusting no one, prevents the workforce from all threats. So, modern hybrid enterprises should embrace the idea of Zero Trust and implement Zero Trust Security Model in their businesses. 

 

4.Ensure Bring Your Own Device Security 

Most employees use their own devices when working remotely. It is called BYOD (bring your own device) When your workforce is in the office, you can control and be sure about their devices’ security. But it is not as simple as when they use their own device. It is stated in the statistics that a high percentage of remote employees neglect antivirus software and overlook updates. It accelerated the risk of data leakage or cyber attack. They also use their devices for both leisure time activities and business. This situation eliminates the distinction and raises the breach risks.

To avoid this kind of carelessness, you must inform your staff. They should be aware of BYOD challenges and learn to protect themselves from risks. Remote workforce security is not only the employer’s responsibility. Both employers and employees need to act under their responsibilities. In this case, the mission of an enterprise should be to teach responsibilities to staff and monitor them whether they are acting in line or not. 

 

Brief Look: Remote Workforce Security 

Ensuring your remote workforce security is not as easy as pie. You need to consider remote workforce security best practices. Zero Trust, Remote VPN, staff education, and BYOD security solutions are some of them but there are other practices to reinforce your hybrid workforce security. If you determine properly what your enterprise needs, you can find the most suitable practice for your business. Do not forget the fact that your remote workforce security is your responsibility and you need to protect them from the risks of remote activities to improve your business.

 

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