Home offices are here to stay. Not only are workers happy with the improved work-life balance, but business owners have found out that they also benefit tremendously from having employees working from home. In fact, considering that companies save in office rent and also increase productivity, there’s little to lose by going remote – unless you don’t take the necessary steps to guarantee a secure home office, that is.
Cyberthreats are on the rise, and from phishing attempts to Wi-Fi hacking, there’s a lot that employees need to think about when working from home. But how do you make sure they follow all the procedures to keep your company and themselves safe? The only way is by providing the required tools and training your employees about the importance of cybersecurity.
Keeping Your Company Data Secure Online
Keeping company data secure is challenging for all types of companies. But it’s even trickier when your business has people working from home. Unlike on-site operations, remote companies have a harder time monitoring whether employees are following security policies or not. For instance, when everyone is working in an office, they’re all connected to the company’s network, which is either managed by you or IT professionals. On the other hand, when employees work from home, they use their own network that might not necessarily be secure.
Training is one of the most important steps to ensure online security. More than providing the necessary online protection software, it’s essential that your employees know how to keep hackers at bay by understanding what to look for in phishing attempts, which software they need to use, and the best practices to follow. Cybersecurity can be a complex topic, though. So, make sure that the training is easy to comprehend. A good way to go is by answering the ‘what, why, and how’ for each cyberthreat in a succinct way. For example:
- What is a phishing attempt?
- Why are phishing attempts dangerous?
- How do you protect yourself from a phishing attempt?
Recommended Home Office Security Software
No home office can be secure without the proper software. However, due to the wide number of options on the market, it’s time-consuming to find the ones that meet your needs. To help, we compiled a list of our recommended security software.
VPN: NordVPN Business
Password Manager: Keeper
Internet Security Suite: TotalAV
Cybersecurity Training: ESET
Anti-Ransomware: Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware
Cloud Backup Software: pCloud
Benefits of Working Online
Even though keeping your business secure from online threats can be complex, the benefits of home offices more than make up for their challenges. For example, the initial investment you’ll need to make in software will quickly be covered by the savings on office rent, transportation fees, hardware, furniture, and more. Better yet, while your office will be cheaper to maintain, companies always see a boost in productivity when implementing work-from-home policies. This happens because employees are generally happier in a home office setting, as they have higher schedule flexibility, don’t spend as much time commuting, and are able to keep a healthier work-life balance.
The environment also benefits from remote offices – not only because your employees will decrease their carbon dioxide emissions by traveling less, but because most remote companies end up going paperless. Of course, your business only achieves all these benefits if you implement the correct policies, provide the necessary software, and offer proper training. For instance, remote employees are more prone to feeling lonely and working overtime. If you don’t do anything about it, most of your workforce will quickly burnout, decreasing productivity, efficiency, and output quality.
Additional Advice for Remote Office Security
Blocking phishing attempts, protecting yourself against malware, and keeping excellent password hygiene are indeed essential for remote office security. However, that isn’t enough. Guaranteeing that your employees have a secure place to store and share documents, and a safe way to run online meetings are some vital steps for a stress-free home office experience. To make sure your business doesn’t have any losses while going remote, make sure that you follow all the best practices for a safe digital transformation.