Teleworking is an increasingly common practice. Businesses allow their employees more of this: a guarantee of trust, social advantage, reconciliation with family life, etc. All the reasons are good for integrating remote work into a company. However, this way of doing things comes with a significant factor: cybersecurity. It must therefore be analyzed and planned.

To protect a company's data, but also the employee, a remote work environment must be very secure. Businesses that had already deployed such environments are now welcoming them. In recent days, with the COVID-19 crisis and the Quebec government's requests for isolation, teleworking has exploded among workers.

However, businesses that did not incorporate secure remote work environments are finding themselves in a bit of a wall. They had no choice but to make this drastic change without preparation.

Result: the urgent deployment of measures that allow remote working can put these companies, which are already exposed to cyberattacks and data theft, in a vulnerable situation. You may be facing this situation. How to ensure the cybersecurity of remote businesses? Learn more about the importance of cybersecurity and take the various steps necessary to make your remote work environment more secure.

1 — Work in a place where Wi-Fi is secure

It is not recommended to work in a public place where the measures taken to ensure network security are unknown. It is well known that it is a popular place for hackers who can, in a jiffy, access data and documents shared on the network. This is also why it is not recommended to carry out banking transactions at the local café, for example.

Working in an environment that is not secure puts computer data and, automatically, company data at risk. In the case of Coronavirus, we suggest that people practice social distance. In this case, make sure that your Wi-Fi network is secure at home.

Obviously, when working from home, it is recommended to use computer equipment provided by the company. If the company you work for doesn't provide you with one (maybe you have a desktop computer, for example) and you need to use your personal computer, there are several things to consider.

One way to secure your network is to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network). A VPN allows remote access to the corporate network in a secure manner. Its use should be recommended if available.

In addition, it is recommended to activate firewalls (they will defend you and warn you in case of unwanted traffic on your network). A simple tool, like Windows Defender, can do the trick. The important thing is to make sure that it is actually active on your computer.

Then, make sure your router's connection is at least WPA2™ (WPA2™ — Personal). If not, change it for this connection. Next, use strong passwords that you'll change often. Do NOT use a password that is easily identifiable, such as your last name followed by your date of birth. Finally, allow multi-factor authentication to maintain control if a malicious person wanted to connect to your applications (like Google).

2 — Make your employees and colleagues aware of the risks of teleworking

Cybersecurity in remote working mode is something that needs to be addressed often. It is a broad term that includes several aspects. That's why you need to raise awareness among your employees and colleagues. They must know how to recognize an abnormal computer situation, that is to say, a cyberattack.

Without delving too deeply into cyberattacks (we'll be devoting a complete article to them), you still need to know what they consist of.

• Receiving an email requesting to download an application or to visit a link
• Installing malicious software that will spy on your actions
• Phishing (receiving an email from a bank or from our bosses — but that's wrong!)
• Vishing (telephone phishing)
• Etc.

With the COVID-19 crisis, hackers are taking advantage of the situations that are available to them. And there are several of them. The majority of people who have been working from home for a few days are not necessarily aware of cyberattacks and are, above all, not protected against them.

To minimize the risk of a cyber attack, we recommend that you do not use the work computer for personal purposes. Personal traffic with a VPN uses a company's bandwidth. In addition to increasing the risk for the company, the network can be congested due to its strong solicitation from other work colleagues.

3 — When in doubt, it is better to abstain

If you are not sure what is happening on your screen, do not do anything that could be irreversible. The best thing you can do is contact your company's IT department. These technicians know a lot about cyberattacks and will be able to answer your questions.

Information technology people are the people to contact when you want to increase the security of your applications, your operating systems, your software or even your antivirus. Besides, make sure everything is up to date!

When the Coronavirus dust settles, several companies will want to maintain a form of teleworking. At that point, it will be essential to put in place a robust and secure structure. At PlanAxion, we work a lot in highly secure cloud computing mode. Until then, we remind you to be careful and vigilant on the web and to report anything that may seem abnormal.

How do you ensure the cybersecurity of your company while working from home?

Quick tip: At PlanAxion, we use Yammer. It is a social network that is compared to Facebook for businesses. This application promotes communication between colleagues. Learn how we use Yammer and the benefits this social network can bring to your business.Image source: Unsplash