July 12, 2022

How To Keep Employer Data Secure When Working Remotely In 5 Steps

When working remotely for a company with sensitive data stored on its computers or servers, security and privacy issues come into play. We will find the solutions to maintain privacy for remote working.

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If you've ever worked from home, you are familiar with the experience. You and your family will greatly benefit from the fact that you can work whenever and wherever you wish. However, it also means that a few additional provisions must be made as an organization in your remote worker policy. And we're not referring to taking them all on an enjoyable outing, like a class vacation to New York City (although that would be great). Here are five methods that organisations can use to safeguard their data and still permit flexible work schedules for their employees.

What is Data Protection 

Data protection is a method in which data is safeguard from potential threats like hacking, spamming, losing and compromising. And in the case of companies data is secured in a safe way that can be restored immediately after data loss and data breaches from malicious activities. So, protecting data from all potential threats is called data protection. Companies take essential steps to keep data safe from all types of extortion, hacking and identity theft.

A variety of international rules control the use and processing of personal information (PII). Laws such as the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act and the EU's Data Protection Act (GDPR) govern how this information is used and stored (CCPA).

Organizations must ensure that such data is used, processed, and secured effectively to ensure that only those who need it have access to it. 

Why is Remote Work Data Protection So Important 

Data protection has become more challenging as remote work has increased.

Data sprawl is more likely because employees are sending an increasing amount of data via email, out-of-office Passwords are frequently unsecure, it's impossible to know whether employees are taking all reasonable precautions to protect data, and there is much more platform on your network as telecommuters use netbooks and other machines to access your servers.

These are mostly a few of all those reasons why firms are now more exposed than ever because of remote labour, making data protection solutions crucial.

Steps To Keep Employer Data Secure 

The wide concept of "data protection" encompasses a number of best practices, including coaching, encryption, data management, allowed entry, data backup and recovery policies, firewalls, security solutions, and proper network health.

We've put up a list of the top recommended practises to keep in mind as you create a data protection policy for remote workers in light of this.

1- Use Passwords For Remote Access to Sensitive Data 

Setting password requirements for remote access to sensitive information is one of the most crucial things you can do to protect the privacy of the data belonging to your organisation. Eight characters is the bare minimum for a password's length, and both difficulty and originality are required.

  • For each website, use a separate password. You might have a data breach if one website is targeted and hackers obtain access to all of your records because you use the same passwords for all of your online accounts.
  • Never use a safe password that contains personal information, like "I love my mom," your birthdate, or your family name. If this kind of information is permanently posted online naked, someone who knows what they're doing can quickly find out what it says in plain English by searching Google or other sites fully (like Facebook)!
  • It's harder to hack your account if your password is complex and includes both letters and digits. Your passwords should be as unpredictable as you can. As an illustration, if you don't know Your logins will make it more difficult for anyone trying to get into your profile to determine what state a dog lives in or what colour its eyes are (or whatever platform).

2- Ensure Data Encryption 

It's crucial to keep in mind that data encryption is still a good practice even if you work in a secure setting. Data can be protected via encryption while it is both at rest and travelling between systems (such as when you send files over the internet). 

Encryption process in cyber security is the transformation of understandable data into encoded data. Data that has been encrypted cannot be accessed or manipulated until it has been decrypted.

That is the reason data security's basic component is encryption. It is the quickest and perhaps most crucial approach to guarantee that data on a PC cannot be taken and accessed by others who intend to use it maliciously.

There is always a chance that someone who wants access will hack into your system and figure out how to get around it, even if no one else knows your password.

Additionally, encryption ensures that even if someone gains access to your phone or computer while you're offline (for example, while travelling), they won't be able to view any sensitive data like banking information or other personal information like birthdays and addresses because it's simply impossible without their password!

Benefits Of Encryption 

  • Since so many people and businesses are putting their data in the cloud, cloud security is crucial. Private information is maintained with the aid of encrypted storage. Customers would make absolutely sure that information is safeguarded while it is in transit, being used, and being stored at rest.
  • Particularly after an epidemic, many organisations create satellite offices. As information is captured from numerous locations, there may be cybersecurity risks. Encryption helps prevent data breaches and destruction of data.
  • Using verification, encryption is being used to demonstrate the authenticity and integrity of data. Copy prevention and internet freedom management are not possible without encryption.
  • Data can be deleted via encryption. Data recovery programmes can occasionally restore lost data, but if you encode the contents beforehand and discard the key, just one point that may be recovered is the ciphertext and not the original data.

3- Prefer Multi-factor Authentication 

Many businesses demand multi-factor authentication, and using it is a good idea. It's an additional security measure that can aid in preventing data theft. If you're working remotely with your employer, you may want to make sure that any sensitive information from the company isn't accessible by anyone else who has access to your account or computer—and multi-factor authentication is one way you can do this.

You'll often hear about two-factor authentication (2FA), but there are other kinds:

  • One-time password (OTP) tokens are unique one-time passwords sent via SMS or email that must be entered in order for users to access their accounts. 
  • They're relatively easy for hackers who are attempting logins through phishing attacks on employee accounts; however they do. 

4- Tips To Secure Mobile Devices 

Due to the prevalence of smartphones in modern society, the subject of digital security has become one that is impossible to avoid. We are frequently warned to keep updating our operating system and programmes, alter our passwords, be cautious when using certain websites, and other things.

  • On mobile devices, encrypt data.
  • To make your data secure when you're using public Wi-Fi, always prefer to purchase and download VPN service. As VPN will help to encrypt your data for hackers and maintain your privacy. Remember, don't go for free VPNs as they will not secure data from hackers, premium VPNs always do the best work. It’s also worth unlocking network security with a VPN concentrator, which oversees the various remote connections that are established by end users, and makes it simpler to monitor and protect them.
  • Plus, Create strong passwords that you don't share with anyone and use a password manager to manage them (this is crucial if you work remotely).
  • Further, Install antivirus software on your mobile devices, and make sure to update it frequently so that it can detect any new threats as they emerge in the wild. Some malware can exploit flaws in older operating systems or applications before the developers have had a chance to patch them.

Even though it could be alluring to jailbreak or root your phone and utilise third-party apps that promise to ramp up and uncover additional capabilities, resist the urge. Because many internet-based mobile apps contain viruses and hacks intended to collect private details from your device, Google and Apple each have tight criteria about what apps are permitted on their stores. Even if it won't guarantee the most private network, sticking to official software is a crucial and frequently skipped step in safeguarding your personal information.

5- Support Organisational Security 

It's critical to inform staff members of the ways in which they can support organisational security. Make sure they are aware of the value of security and what is expected of them in terms of their contribution to protecting sensitive data.

With this information, you can be certain that your staff will be prepared for anything regarding protecting employer data. These are some points to follow.

Things To be part of your Policy for Remote workers 

  • Make sure the security procedures your organisation has in place for remote employees are adequately documented.
  • Make sure your company has a robust password policy that calls for employees to use unique passwords for every website they access.
  • Ask your staff to always log in using two-factor authentication, and make sure they understand how it works (if they don't already).
  • The system will only be used by users who have been given permission to access the data therein.
  • The system must only allow authorised users who have a "need to know" that specific knowledge permission to access, modify, and destroy the data in overcoming these limitations.
  • The system's participants are responsible for the acts they take while using it.

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