How to be (digitally) secure during COVID-19

The current pandemic has forced most workers into instant work at home arrangements. Unfortunately, it’s also given hackers more potential targets.

At Insource, we are actively assisting clients with strategies that help protect their employees and organizational data from the increased activity of hackers. We also have been assisting them with the efficient use of collaboration tools, aiming to help them increase team communication and streamline business practices. This includes using tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, electronic forms, and electronic payments.

We know that you are actively dealing with these issues, so we would like to share some advice on how you can move to remote work arrangements safely, efficiently, and productively.

Tips for safe remote working

By capitalizing on the pandemic, hackers have increased their attempts to gain access to networks, encrypt files for ransom, and create more chaos.

Here are some tips to ensure your systems are protected from these increased threats.

• Check your backups, and make sure you have “offline” backups. Ask yourself, “Is everything important in those backups?”
• Ensure your operating systems, applications, firewalls, and other software packages have all the latest security patches. Be sure to update them if they don’t.
• Ensure your team is using Multi-Factor Authentication or 2FA. This prevents hackers from getting in either via brute-forcing (guessing) a user’s password or by tricking the user (phishing) into giving it to them.
• Give the team some “user security” education. Let them know they have a critical role to play in their organization’s security.
• Touch base with all your critical vendors to find out what they are doing during the lockdown, and if possible, get a backup of their data in your hands.

Running a business “from home”

Working from home, and using a home office is not a simple adjustment for organizations, especially for those not practiced in it. 

Here are some guidelines to get you started:

• Ensure your staff can easily get to the systems/equipment they need to be effective.
• Determine if you can replicate all your business processes online, i.e. electronic signatures or check signing.
• Use video collaboration tools such as Zoom, Teams, etc. as the most effective way to maintain culture (or improve upon it).
• Check to be sure your phone system supports remote working
• Maintain your compliance standards wherever possible

What can employees do?

As for your teams, working from home can be a massive adjustment. To be most effective while working from home, employees should ask themselves:

• Do I have a comfortable, ergonomic, place to work?
• Is my home internet speed enough to stay in touch with my team, and do my work? If not, should I call the provider and see what upgrades are available?
• Is my home wireless secure enough for handling the data I have access to?

COVID-19 has majorly changed our lives, and we are doing our best to ensure that every one of our team and our clients has everything they need.

If you have any questions about dealing with COVID-19 in the workplace, email us at insource@insourceservices.com or call us on (781) 235-1490.