Due to ever changing regulations throughout the country in response to the pandemic Covid-19, many businesses are having to quickly adapt to new work from home procedures.
This can be overwhelming for many small businesses who are not set up to have a large remote workforce. With that in mind, as you are making the transition there are a few things to remember to make sure you are setting up an effective and secure remote experience for your users.
When setting up a remote workspace it is important that your workforce has the tools the they need to be productive. We recommend that all remote workers have:
A computer (preferably company owned)
A reliable and fast internet connection
Chat and conferencing application (we highly suggest using Microsoft teams (now free to download, more information here)
A dedicated workspace free of distractions
A phone
Managing Security Risks
During this uncertain time, we understand that it is easy to set-up your remote workforce while overlooking important security precautions. We want to remind you to keep security top of mind as we navigate the current situation, as hackers will undoubtedly use this vulnerable time to prey upon companies and steal data.
Here are a few security concerns to keep top of mind while setting up your remote workforce:
Utilize full disk encryption to ensure that even if the device falls into the wrong hands, the company's data is not accessible
Continue to enforce strong password policies and use of 2FA as often as possible where applicable
Use a VPN to connect remote workers to the organization's internal network. This prevents access from unknown entities from remote locations.
Have employees use company owned devices as much as possible, using personal devices increases risk of secured files and data being saved on unsecure devices
When it is not possible to use a company owned device use a solution such as GC Connect to connect securely into a user's machine at work for their day-to-day tasks. (For our current GC customers we are offering free 60 days of our GC Connect, contact your CRM for more information)
We know that setting up a remote workforce can be overwhelming and you may have questions or concerns. Please feel free to contact us during this time and we are happy to help. You can always call us at 800-358-7447 or contact us here.
We have set up a Remote Work resource page with free resources to help companies navigate these uncertain times. View the resource page here.