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Cyber Security – Your IT is only as secure as your least secure machine

If your business supports remote working, you need to ensure each person can work as securely at home as they do in the office. Here’s what you need to be thinking about. 

IT industry experts

When all of your employees are based in the office, there’s a ring of security around them to protect them and your business from cyber-attacks. But now that many businesses are supporting hybrid working, you need to ensure the same level of IT security many times over to cover each person working from home 

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The cyber risk of remote working is already apparent 

It was recently reported that more than half of UK firms believe remote working has left them open to cyber-attacks, with the head of small businesses at Cisco UK & Ireland pointing out: “Organisations are no longer just protecting an ‘office’ but a workforce. This means securing employees is no longer about focusing on what they are doing but where they are.” 

 

These concerns were reinforced by the fact that UK businesses lost £374 million in 2021, largely due to cyber breaches caused by staff having to work from home. 

 

After lockdown, if your business is using remote working on a long-term basis, it’s important to have policies and procedures in place to protect your business from cyber-threats that reflect the new way of working. 

 

The risks to be considered 

One of the biggest challenges for businesses trying to secure themselves from cyber-threats is that there are many more potential ways their security can be breached. It’s far easier to protect themselves when everyone is within one firewall.  

 

One reassuring fact is that while there are new threats with people working from home, many are familiar: 

 

  • Insecure personal networks with home routers not being updated, or working from places that use open public Wi-Fi

  • Employees not spotting cyber-threats, are being careless with their security, with a lack of awareness or just forgetting about it

  • Cyber-security is not a priority by staff focusing on work

  • Weak passwords making access to systems easy

  • Increased use of personal devices that aren’t kept up to date or have no firewalls installed

  • Unencrypted files sent between employees, putting data at risk 

 

Ultimately people are spending more time online and using a greater number of tools to work and collaborate remotely, increasing the opportunities for cyber criminals. 

 

What actions can be taken to protect remote workers? 

It really is true that your business is only as secure as your least secure machine, so an overall strategy needs to exist to ensure the long-term viability of remote working. 

 

When planning for this, you should include multiple security solutions to prevent cyber-attacks; recommended ones include: 

 

  • Educating your workforce to understand cyber-threats and their role in preventing them

  • Establishing clear remote working policies and procedures that clearly define resources, expectations and responsibilities

  • Regulating the use of personal devices
     
  • Ensuring strong passwords are in place and using multi-factor authentication

  • Raising the profile of personal network security

  • Investing in Cloud-based solutions for improved security, up-to-date software versions and less reliance on local systems

  • Ensuring software and systems being used have the latest updates and security measures

  • Providing the right equipment so employees can work remotely and securely

  • Checking IT accounts and close any not in use
     
  • Making sure back-ups are working properly so business interruption is kept to a minimum if data is lost

  • Using VPN to protect data online and boost security when transferring data remotely. 

 

Businesses must be proactive to secure their workforce 

Protecting businesses from cyber-security requires a proactive approach to stay ahead of new threats that arise regularly because prevention is better (and less costly) than cure. 

 

However, no matter how well your cyber-security planning is, a back-up plan is important for when things don’t go to plan, to minimise the impact. 

 

Businesses need to have the right IT Support resources in place to manage a dispersed team and to provide the expertise and capacity needed to educate employees on the threats, the precautions to take when working remotely and the necessary actions to take that protect themselves and the whole business.  

 

At Syn-Star we understand the challenges that businesses face and we strive to protect our customers from cyber threats, training them on cyber-security and offering remote IT support services for remote and hybrid workers. And, if a cyber-attack does occur, our experts respond swiftly to your call. 

 

No two businesses are the same, so we tailor our services for each individual set of needs and provide the flexibility to partner them as they grow, to meet demand with the most effective technology. 

 

If you are concerned that remote working is putting your cyber-security is at risk, talk to us about how we can help. 

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