If you plan on catching up on some work from home AND you’re using a personal device such as a smartphone or personal laptop – DON’T! Unless your personal device is covered under our IT Wellness Care plan, you could accidentally introduce a virus to the company’s network.

ONLY devices that are under our vigilant watch of patching, updating and monitoring should be used to work remote. If you are working without a VPN (Virtual Provate Network), your data is exposed on the Internet. Your IT Provider can set up a VPN and install software on your remote devices that will encrypt the data that travels between that device and your corporate network. This will prevent data interception. These days, there is increased use of remote access as more workers telecommute. You need to follow Best Practices to secure your company data.

Does everyone really need remote access? Yes, there are sales people who are always on the road and need remote access. However, they do not need access to accounting data or other company information that does not affect sales. Therefore, you can decide which areas they need to see and segment your network and permissions accordingly.

You need to take a multi-tiered approach to protecting what is yours! Two factor authentication (2FA) helps reduce unwanted access by others who have intercepted a password. Even if they are able to get the password, the code they also need changes every 30 seconds or so. They need both to get in. Also, you should have a Company Policy that only company issued and secured hardware be allowed to access your network. That way, you can make sure the proper precautions are taken with VPN client software and an up to date Internet Security Suite in place.

In the movie, the Godfather, people were offered “protection”.  AUP – Always Use Protection even if it’s your first date. No, that’s not what I mean. I am talking about computers. What were you thinking? You know what I mean. Many of the issues arise when someone accidentally clicked on something because they were distracted. Using protection always will save the day when these things happen.

As a Side Note, BTT can set up a way for you to work from home securely; call our office if you would like us to set that up: 888.477.9895.

Want to know more about Security? Click here to get our report on 7 Urgent Security Protections Every Business Should Have in Place Now.