ProfitComm is based in Baltimore, and in November, data security hit close to home. The Baltimore County Public School system was hit with a ransomware attack. With remote learning in place, the attackers locked teachers and students out. They are hardly alone when it comes to cybersecurity attacks. In 2019, the FBI received“467,361 complaints of suspected Internet crime, with reported losses in excess of $3.5 billion.” And with more employees working from home, where they may not have the security that comes with working from an office, more companies and employers are in danger of becoming targets of ransomware attacks, data breaches, and data theft. Here are 4 ways you can protect your company’s data while your employees work remotely.
Set up a WFH security system.
When you are a 100 person company in a physical location, you trust your IT department to protect the network with firewalls and other threat protection solutions. When 100 people go to a WFH situation, you technically now have 100 locations, and most home services are not protected at the same scale as corporate offices. Setting up firewalls, VPNs, and using multi-factor authentication tools to access corporate networks will help protect corporate assets from attacks.
Be aware of email phishing scams.
Don’t click links or open attachments from people you don’t recognize. This sounds like common sense, but you wouldn’t believe how many people still get duped. Bad actors are getting really good, and email phishing scams are skyrocketing. The emails look very real, but if you hover over the sender’s email address (WITHOUT CLICKING ON IT!!!!), you will see an email address that is not from the domain of the company they claim. If you ever think an email looks suspicious in the slightest, don’t click on it and inform your IT security people.
Create a backup and disaster recovery plan.
Every place of work, no matter how big or small needs a backup and disaster recovery plan. The reality of data breaches is that we have no idea when they’ll occur, and the best defense is a good offense. Like many IT services, there are several ways a business can develop backups and disaster recovery. Disaster Recover As-A-Service (DRaaS) automatically backs up critical data and infrastructure so that if a disaster (human-made or natural) strikes, you can immediately have access to your critical information and applications. Businesses should also plan and think about where their data is stored, where backups are stored, and what their storage options are. ProfitComm offers both DRaaS and a-la-carte backup services, as well as comprehensive backup and disaster recovery planning. We have the tools to help businesses assess their attack surfaces, the most malevolent threats, and whether their current defenses are truly adequate to the task.
Keep Everything Up to Date
Updates are annoying, but they actually help keep your operating systems and software more secure from hackers. The product developers find the vulnerabilities in their systems and then send out updates to fix those vulnerabilities. By simply agreeing to update your computer or software, you are keeping yourself safer. If keeping patches and updates to your environment is a challenge due to limited IT resources, consider outsourcing proactive IT work to a Managed Service Provider. Keeping the environment healthy and safe will make the break-fix scenarios less painful.
Wondering if your WFH strategy is right for your employees?
We’ve got an Interactive Quick Assessment tool which is essentially a series of questions that can help us guide your team in the right direction if you still have questions.