While entire countries are on lockdown, working from home presents a great opportunity to maintain business continuity. However, remote working comes with several cyber security risks; we should pay the same attention to our cyber hygiene as we do washing our hands.
Recent government measures to stop the spread of the Coronavirus has significantly increased the number of employees working remotely over the past few weeks. Given the unusual circumstances, the period employees are expected to remain at home is unknown - however it will continue for some weeks. As a result of remote working for long periods, employers could see an increase in risky online behaviours - especially if your personnel are new to the work from home environment and are having to adapt.
Employees need to think carefully about maintaining information and cyber-security best practices. Any human error such as clicking links without carefully inspecting them, visiting malicious websites or sharing data using unsecured methods can expose companies to huge cyber risks. These risks increase as cyber criminals are leveraging the panic created by the current situation, attempting to defraud businesses with convincing phishing campaigns, making employees more susceptible to becoming victims.
Therefore, the cyber security messages that you share with your employees must be concise, easy to understand, and consistent. Good cyber hygiene is a company-wide effort and is not a one-and-done process. Tools like antivirus may not be enough in isolation, but paired with proper cyber security education it can make the difference in keeping companies safe at these times.
To help support businesses we have created a cyber security checklist which, once completed, can significantly lower the risks of falling victim to cyber crime. Asking employees to work through a checklist is a good way to educate as it provides a structured approach for getting safer online. Download it now and empower your remote employees to stay secure in an easy and interactive way.
