How to Prevent Data Leaks When Working Remotely

Data leaks are expensive and can even impact your company’s brand. How can you prevent data leaks when your workers are scattered all over the globe? Read to find out.

Remote working is the present and future workplace. Many companies, even before the pandemic, resorted to the work from home culture. While this culture has many benefits, the chances of having data leaks and breaches are high. So how can you prevent data leaks when working remotely?

Companies should develop a data security strategy and educate their employees on it. Here are a few strategies that companies can use when their employees are working from home:

After creating one, ensure that all employees review and sign that policy. The document should cover the reasons why this policy exists in the first place, various security protocols employees should comply with, how the company will support them in complying, and may also include a security update schedule and approved messaging applications.

Many companies use the cloud in their daily business operations. Cloud resources give employees of remote teams access to company data and information. These employees could be living in different time zones and may have different work schedules. With the cloud, they will have access to company data at all times.

Ensure that your employees know that using an unsecured Wi-Fi network is the most common way to expose your company to a data security breach. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is the solution for this.

It provides remote access to company networks and servers while encrypting traffic and monitors for any signs of infection. With a VPN, other telecommuters cannot access corporate data on their private computers. Also, make sure that your company is using the right VPN.

Data protection is easier if companies provide work devices to their employees. However many companies are adopting a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy as this is less costly for employers and easier for employees. Protection of your remote worker’s devices from viruses, malware, and unauthorized access is very important.

Remote workers can unintentionally allow malware into their network by opening malicious websites or emails. Ensure that they all install trusted security software and that they regularly update their software. They should enable data protection which could improve data security and should set up their devices for remote monitoring and maintenance. Have automatic updates activated on their devices.

Ensure that all your team members are using strong passwords to minimize the chances of attacks. Make sure that they do not use similar passwords while logging into their personal social media accounts. Offer password security training. Educate them on how to keep passwords strong and why it is important not to use the same passwords repeatedly.

Plan training sessions on the established data security policies within the company. Train your employees on the new security tools, protocols, and processes they will have to use in their daily activities. Schedule follow-up meetings to check if employees are following the security policies. Design a response plan so everyone knows what to do when a data breach happens.

Your employees will still need help so make sure that your IT or cybersecurity team is available to respond to questions or doubts.

Encryption software can protect company data by not allowing access to unauthorized users. If there is a breach, your encrypted data will be useless and illegible. If your laptop or mobile is stolen or lost, the encryption locks down the files. Unauthorized users cannot view the data.

If your employees are unaware of how important data security is, then no matter how strong your policies are, it won’t be sufficient. Human error is, for a reason, one of the major causes of data breaches. Implementing the above strategies, emphasising proper training, can help in preventing data leaks when working remotely.

If you liked the blog please hit the 👏 button and share it with more people.

Related posts:

2018 closed its fiscal year with a new tourism record in Spain. The minister announced in mid-January a positive balance of 82.6 million international tourists, which is 0.9 percent more than the…

There are many decisions that we have to make when dealing with data: choosing the right chart, selecting algorithms, deciding between evaluation metrics — the decisions are endless, and it can be…

A spray foam insulation machine is a piece of equipment designed to apply spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation to various surfaces, such as walls, ceilings, and roofs. Spray foam insulation is an…