Cybersecurity & Remote Working: Protecting Your Remote Workers from Cyberthreats

The pandemic has forced many organizations to adopt more remote working employees in their operational structures. This has brought into stark focus the need for adequate cybersecurity measures for remote workers. 

Remote working has been steadily rising over the past few years, with an increasing number of employees enjoying flexible work hours. The pandemic has pushed this process into overdrive, with more companies embracing remote working and even considering long-term plans for continuation outside of the pandemic.

However, as some organizations were forced to adapt too quickly, their security systems have not kept pace with securing a remote workforce. This will be compounded if employees are working through private devices or using open wi-fi networks. 

And these are just a few of the risks that CISOs have been grappling with over the past few months, some without success because of the nature of their business. They’ve also had to contend with cyber threats that have increased exponentially since the pandemic. As can be seen, by this WHO report, they have seen a significant uptick in cyberattacks and email scams. This has led the WHO to migrate its systems to a more secure authenticated one. 

Optimizing your security systems for remote working

In assessing plans for the future of remote work, PWC conducted a remote working survey in June 2020. According to their results, 53% of employers plan to give remote workers “better security policies to support remote work” so that employees have what they need to be more productive. 

But what does this mean for your security efforts? 

It requires that you cannot approach cybersecurity in the same way most businesses currently do, especially if you’re to secure your assets in a remote work environment. 

Some areas that CISOs need to prioritize now includes:

• Addressing risks of working on personal devices

Bring-your-own-device (BYOD) practices are quite prevalent in the current climate. Now, while most employees may have traditional antivirus, firewall, and anti-malware tools, these leave gaps in your security. And as they connect to your internal systems, even if using VPN access, there is always a risk.

The delay between the discovery of a vulnerability in your systems and a patch from your antivirus company can lead to significant problems. So, information security officers are now seeking alternative solutions that provide proactive security for internal and external access. 

• Addressing risks posed by third-party apps and software 

We are embracing a lot of third-party technology to facilitate remote working conditions, including for confidential matters. As such, any vulnerability that these apps or software face can impact your operations. 

So, you need to have encrypted communication, but also cybersecurity solutions that can combat any vulnerability introduced by these third-party apps.

How does Ameot help keep your remote services secure? 

Ameot has always been a future-paced cybersecurity solution, including as an ultimate solution for work-from-home cybersecurity. So, our solutions are advanced enough to evolve as the market and the needs of organizations change. We also offer endpoint device protection, which makes remote working much more secure and accessible, especially for large organizations.

If you’re facing continued cybersecurity breaches or need to find a system that reduces the workload on your staff so you can focus on solutions to improve operations, then let’s talk. Contact Ameot for a demo, and let’s discuss enterprise cybersecurity options for your organization.