Securing remote workers is a never-ending job, regardless of how many there are at your organization, because there’s always new threats and new attack surfaces to protect.

After a while, it becomes clear to any cybersecurity expert that there are both do’s and don’ts when it comes to securing remote workers. These lessons are based on hard-won experience—in some cases because they’ve experienced a serious breach. However, there’s no reason that every organization needs to learn the hard way, so here’s some of the top mistakes your organization and your employees should avoid when securing remote workers, followed by do that are proven to work.

What not to do when securing remote workers

There’s many things employees shouldn’t do with their office computer and it’s important that you have policies in place to keep them from doing them.

• Don’t tolerate workarounds: Good security should never get in the way of employee productivity or impede business success, but it’s not uncommon for cybersecurity practices to constrain workers so that prompt them to find a way around a security policy. These workarounds might include employees using personal computers to access corporate networks and data without proper vetting of IT or exchanging documents using their personal email addresses saving passwords in the browsers. Employees need to understand the rules are there for reason.
• Do not ignoring warning signs: With more workers at home, it’s even harder to keep an eye on your fleet of workstations, so you need to make sure employees aren’t ignoring any hints their computer at home is under attack. Unexpected browser pop-ops or a sudden change in user settings are signs that unauthorized changes have been made and that the employee’s workstation has compromised. Ignoring these signs could lead to a much bigger problem that could impact the network security of the entire organization.
• Don’t let family use the company computer: With a corporate workstation at home during the pandemic, family members of remote workers may be tempted to use it for non-work-related activities that can lead to clicking on a link that infects the devices and compromises company data and applications.
• Don’t delay software updates and patches: When employees are in the middle of getting work done, they may be inclined to postpone much needed software updates and scheduled security scans when prompted. But the best way to keep workstations secure, no matter where they’re located, is by making sure they have the latest software updates, virus definitions, and other patches. Even in the era where many use Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications, operating system and application updates are still critical for robust security.

A few do’s that can go a long way

Some of the above don’ts suggest some do’s that should be happening instead, but here are few other key other do’s that go a long way to securing remote workers.

• Empower and train your workers: If employees understand why security measures are put in place and are given ways of getting things done quickly and efficiently without workarounds, they’re a great asset for protecting the organization. When you have the right people with the right training, it’s hard for a threat actor to gain a foothold within you network.
• Make the move to the cloud: If you haven’t already, migrate your data and applications to the cloud as much as possible. The fewer applications and data that reside on the workstation, the better. While SaaS security has its own set of challenges, a centralized cloud approach is easier to manage, especially in a pandemic, and easier anytime for SMBs with limited IT resources.
• Take a zero-trust approach: The cloud can be an effective security enabler for taking a Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) stance. It’s a mindset that’s becoming increasingly preferred because it assumes anything in a network can be a threat and separates remote workers from the network. User access is determined by third-party cloud provider to manage verifications and access to applications. If users don’t have the credentials, then they can’t access data and applications they’re not supposed, even they are legitimately employees of the company.
• Get second a opinion: When it comes to evaluating your security posture, it never hurts get an outside to take a look at what you’re doing and making sure it’s aligned with your goals. And if you’re new to securing remote workers, a Managed Security Services Provider can fill in the gaps, whether it’s just a risk assessment with recommendations or helping with ongoing management of your network security.

The security landscape dynamic even when you don’t have many employees working from home. Having clear policies and procedures in place is an important foundation for securing remote workers, but partnering with a managed services provider that can help you leverage the cloud, implement best practices and policies, and spot common pitfalls improve your overall security posture no matter how many remote workers you have.