Your small business has changed in ways you never expected. To comply with OSHA, you are required to keep your employees safe. Your business may have either partially or fully shifted online and working remotely.
You can CONTACT US if you need help to move online.
Your business plan was likely not prepared to keep things safe while all employees must stay home. Your budget is stretched thin; you don’t have remote IT experts on your team; the machines driving your business may no longer solely be located in your offices; it complicates the necessity of keeping all files and communications safe.
Where do you go from here? Let us identify a few essential and easy steps to start making your small business safer.
1. Secure company in-person video chat.
You need:
– A privacy-friendly software for your video chat.
You can CONTACT US if you need assistance to choose and configure a secured online video chat for your team.
2. Secured company email – Company emails of in-office, clients, and suppliers’ communications go with mobile devices move with your remote working force. Targeted phishing attacks for at-home workers will likely increase as malicious actors know more people will be in this new and potentially less-protected working environment. Other than a monetary loss in wiring fraud, vital company information in risk. It opens the company for other attacks.
You need:
– Anti-virus with build-in email scanning.
– A browse integrated Phishing and Internet Security Protection Tools.
– Employee Education to raise awareness of common phishing and spam attacks.
– Implement and enforce a proper password policy that includes multi-factor authentication to prevent unauthorized access or loss.
You can CONTACT US for the choice of the tools.
3. Keep Up-to-Date – One in three breaches are caused by unpatched vulnerabilities. These security breaches could be prevented by ensuring all servers, databases, workstations, and mobile devices are adequately secured and fully patched.
You need:
– Know and manage all your assets and endpoints.
– Monitor and patch remote and mobile devices beyond in-office infrastructures.
– Extend anti-virus protections for personal devices.
You can CONTACT US to know more.
4. Data Encryptions – Encrypting data at rest and in transit. Today whole drive encryption is an OS standard to protect unauthorized access or loss. Data in transit can be emails that contain sensitive material and/or access to work-related data at a remote location, which should keep private.
You need:
– A secured local router and firewall.
– An encrypted WIFI with WPA2 or WPA3.
– A VPN to connect to office or conduct business.
– An anti-virus with build-in email scanning.
You can CONTACT US to find out how to designate a home-network for personal and work uses.
5. Encrypted backup of all data – You secured your business data with regular, encrypted backups while everyone is in the office. Now, you have less control over your remote worker’s devices, a simple coffee spill on a device could mean lost work or data.
You need:
– To extend regular backups to a remote worker’s devices to become an integral part of your backup strategy.
You can CONTACT US to review and find options.
Many of the suggestions are simply improving the practices that you may already have in place or have been doing. Some of the protections to be introduced for additional products or change of procedures that may require an adjustment at first, but the practice will strengthen your business practices for your business. Employees will be able to work remotely, securely, and will stay safe.
CONTACT US for a FREE REMOTE WORKFORCE SECURITY ASSESSMENT.
