Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, work-from-home arrangements have been commonplace. In many ways, remote work is a win-win: Employees love flexibility and the lack of commute, while employers can save on overhead expenses.

If there’s any major drawback to remote work, it’s the increased risk of cybersecurity breaches. Connecting to shared drives and folders from home networks (and in many cases, from coffee shops and other public spaces) creates opportunity for hackers and cybercriminals. And, it creates headaches for IT professionals.

Common Work-from-Home Cybersecurity Risks

There are several specific risks that remote employees should be aware of.

Expanded Attack Surfaces

When teams are dispersed throughout multiple locations, it creates more potential endpoints for hackers to exploit; more devices, more software to secure, and more networks to connect. Simply put, remote work makes it far more complicated for IT professionals to maintain consistent standards of cybersecurity.

Phishing and Social Engineering

Phishing and other types of social engineering schemes can affect workers anywhere, including in traditional office settings. However, research shows that remote workers are far more easily distracted, and thus more susceptible to opening malicious links or attachments.

Unsecured Hardware

Between working from home and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies, shared networks are increasingly accessed from unsecured devices. And while IT teams can provide cybersecurity guidelines, the reality is that employees working from home tend to have very little IT supervision or oversight.

Unsecured Networks

Along the same lines, employees doing their work from shared or public networks, such as in a coffee shop or public library, may inadvertently provide hackers with an easy way to access sensitive data or to exploit vulnerabilities in collaborative drives and folders.

Tips for Ensuring Cybersecurity When Working from Home

Recognizing these risk factors is an important starting point. There are also some steps that IT professionals can take to help remote employees work more securely.

  • Communicate basic policies. Make sure you have clear, consistent policies about password use and network connections, and that you communicate these policies to employees regularly. Repetition is key.
  • Create an inventory of assets. Have a clear record of where your important data lies, and regularly check to ensure that it’s well-fortified and secure.
  • Implement a zero-trust framework. Require multi-factor authentication to access any shared files or networks and provide access only to assets that an employee truly needs to get their job done.
  • Ensure proper configuration for cloud-based storage. The cloud is a primary source of cybersecurity vulnerability. Make sure your IT is diligent about identifying and addressing any gaps or glitches in your company’s cloud computing efforts.
  • Foster connections between team members. Ensuring familiarity between team members can significantly reduce the risk of social engineering attacks. This is especially important during the onboarding phase.

Make IT Security a Priority, Even for Remote Work

Even remote work can be done in a way that prioritizes security. To find out more about the best practices for IT security, reach out to the team at BlueArmor today.