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By this point, it isn’t news to anyone that the pandemic has drastically changed the workforce. While there have been shifts in the number of jobs available, almost more important than that is the number of employees that have started working from home.
Millions of Canadians took on the option to work remotely in 2020. In a recent study by Gartner, they found that 82% of company leaders plan to allow their employees to work from home at least part of the time until the end of the pandemic. For many people in the workforce, this is a welcome change. 96% of respondents in a FlexJobs survey said that they would prefer to work from home for some portion of their job, if not the entire time.
With so many people gravitating towards online work, network security should be a top priority now more than ever before. Remote employees deal with sensitive information every day. How can you make sure that this information is secure? In this post, we discuss four ways that you can stay more secure when working from home.
A laptop or PC can be a convenient tool. Every day we use these devices to complete our work, shop online, relax with Netflix or connect with friends and family. However, this crossover type between work and play can create a dangerous situation for your network security. You can never be sure that these sites you’re visiting are 100% safe. If it is within your means, having a separate device that you use solely for work can minimize common threats. A way employers can support this is by issuing company devices to employees who are working from home. This will help you maintain security without sacrificing recreation.
No one is expecting the average employee to become a tech wizard overnight. That being said, a bit of extra studying can make all the difference when ensuring your network security. Taking the time to understand what places to avoid online, creating a strong password, or setting up a VPN will create an added layer of security. Companies should consider including training on network security for remote employees.
Things will go wrong. It is inevitable. However, when they do, the situation does not have to escalate into a company-wide breach. Having a plan for when an IT issue occurs will ensure that any security problems you face are handled and do not spread throughout your team. Without a plan, you are opening yourself up to numerous problems that would be hard to recover from. Employers can help nip issues in the bud by creating a partnership with a solid IT company.
Do you have a backup and recovery system in place? If you don’t, you need to. Anything is possible in the world of technology, and that includes losing everything. To protect against this, you need to have a way to backup all your vital information so that it can be recovered in the event of a loss. Having a centralized backup and recovery program for all employees is one-way companies can avoid this issue, making their sensitive information even more secure.
Network security is not something that should be taken lightly in our new online-based world. Remote employees are a key player in the company’s overall security, and they should be treated as such. By following these tips, you ensure that you are at lower risk and safer when dealing with potential outside threats. For any more questions or concerns about network security that you have, please reach out to us here at Fuelled. We’re experts in this area, so that you don’t have to be.