5 Home Business Cybersecurity Measures You Can Implement in a Few Hours

Managing Technology for Remote Teams

The trend toward remote or home-based employees is growing exponentially, especially as COVID-19 continues to impact workplaces. As a result, many companies are discovering work-from-home technology solutions that allow them to continue operations seamlessly.

One important aspect of these solutions is maintaining strong cybersecurity practices. With networks becoming more dispersed and companies having less immediate oversight (plus an increase in cybersecurity attacks), new strategies for managing cybersecurity at a distance are highly necessary.

5 Cybersecurity Measures Your Business Can Take Now

Manage Security on Home-Based Devices

One of the main challenges of a remote network of devices is device management. Without oversight of all the devices that are connected to your network, it can be difficult to track access points. To curb this quickly, it’s important that businesses with home-based employees implement a BYOD (bring your own device) policy. Businesses may also want to consider remote network monitoring to beef up security.

Create Systems and Processes for Backups and Security

Remote teams often face the challenge of data being spread out over multiple systems and devices. However, businesses will want to maintain centralized control over data storage and security. For example, if an employee is storing documents on the hard drive of a personal laptop (and not anywhere else), this data is at risk of being lost permanently.

Virtual or cloud data storage and backup services are often a solution for businesses. Having employees work exclusively on cloud-based storage ensures that documents can be backed up virtually (and physically from the virtual location, if necessary). This also ensures added security, as access can be revoked by the business (for example, if an employee leaves the company).

Provide Remote Employee Cybersecurity Training Seminars

Consistent cybersecurity training for all employees remains one of the most effective solutions for overall security. Your employees are essentially gatekeepers that can provide or deny cybercriminals access to your network. Without proper training, those gates will not be as securely guarded.

Scheduling virtual cybersecurity training seminars on a regular basis can keep employees fully up to date, especially when new applications or technology is introduced to the business. Hiring a managed service provider with advanced IT solutions to deliver your seminars is one option. For those who have used their cybersecurity and IT budget in other areas, creating an in-house seminar is also an option. You can learn more about the components of an employee cybersecurity training program from our previous post.

Give Employees a Security Checklist

Training is only one half of the solution when it comes to giving employees the tools they need to manage cybersecurity on a daily basis. The other component is the execution. It’s important that remote teams track and report their activities.

Ensure your employees are completing the following tasks on a regular basis:

Creating backups
Checking on their firewalls and other security features
Updating or changing passwords for accounts
Reporting concerns or access attempts
Updating their applications, software, and devices

It may also help to create a thread on a virtual chat application to address cybersecurity concerns directly. Employees can ask questions and point out inconsistencies or gaps in processes. You can also add your outsourced IT team to the group to get more immediate support.

Give Your Employees Access to Remote IT Support in Edmonton

When problems arise and employees don’t have access to immediate support, mistakes are often made. Implementing remote IT support for your entire team can help prevent these mistakes from occurring. Additionally, IT professionals may save your employees valuable time when it comes to troubleshooting and implementing solutions, which means your team can be more effective overall.

If you need remote IT support in Edmonton or anywhere across Canada, Alt-Tech Inc.’s highly qualified professionals are ready to jump in and help you secure your data quickly and effectively. We offer cost-effective solutions for complete IT support for remote teams.

Photo by Petter Lagson on Unsplash