08 Apr How to Ensure Compliance When Working Remotely
The ongoing COVID-19 epidemic has brought several unique problems to enterprises throughout the world in their day-to-day operations. Remote working has become a vital aspect in keeping operations up and running as every organization tries to thrive in this unique climate. This adaption, however, has exposed firms to a whole new level of cybersecurity and regulatory risks.
The threat to company data is at an all-time high, with hackers preying on unprotected home networks and work-from-home staff keeping information on their local drives. The average ransomware payment for Q2 2020, according to the Coverware Ransomware Marketplace Research Study, was $178,254. This is a stunning 60% increase above the average payout in Q1 2020.
Despite the growing enormity of cyberthreats, companies may still leverage all of the fantastic solutions at their disposal to successfully combat this threat, even if their whole staff is working remotely.
In this article, we’ll look at the primary compliance and security issues that come with remote work, as well as how to deal with them.
Security and Compliance Issues with Remote Work
When remote working became commonplace throughout the world, most firms were forced to adjust without any established rules or practices in place to maintain standards. As a result, even some of the largest corporations are still catching up on their compliance adherence procedures while allowing remote work.
When dealing with remote personnel, businesses of all sizes encounter the following challenges:
• Reduced security: When the shutdown began, staff brought their work gadgets home and utilized them on their personal networks. They also utilize their own gadgets for workplace work on occasion. Because enterprises have minimal control over security, this poses a significant risk to commercial data.
• Inability to enforce best practices: When working within their office environments, businesses can guarantee that their staff follow data security best practices. However, the situation is dramatically different when it comes to remote employment. There’s a chance that employees may utilize shared networks or public Wi-Fi connections to do their job, complicating security.
• Inadequate backup: As remote work becomes more common, the threat to data has increased dramatically. Unfortunately, data backup failure is also extremely prevalent. As a result, enterprises must ensure that they have several copies of their vital data in the event that their remote servers are hacked.
• Lack of staff awareness: While most firms adhere to best practices when it comes to employee and customer data, human error remains a significant danger to security and compliance. Remote staff must receive sufficient awareness training on how to manage data and recommended practices to follow.
You might want to take a look at this: 10 Best Cybersecurity Software Apps For Android 2022
Best Practices for Ensuring Compliance During Remote Work
Although remote installations make compliance more difficult than normal, firms may improve their security and stay compliant with numerous requirements by implementing the recommended practices listed below.
1. Develop a cybersecurity policy.
If you don’t currently have a cybersecurity policy in place, it’s time to develop one. It is critical that firms have a cybersecurity policy that is appropriate for remote operations. This policy should address the numerous actions that workers must take on both a personal and professional level. Organizations may reduce their risk exposure by setting effective cybersecurity standards and best practices.
2. Implement a consistent data storage policy.
Employees are likely to keep and manage data anyway they see fit in the absence of a uniform cloud storage strategy, which is absolutely not recommended. There should be a cloud-based common repository for backing up files instantaneously from many sources. Rogue copies that workers keep on their local drives can represent a significant danger to data security and generate discrepancies in storage regulations in many circumstances. You must ensure that all data storage regulations are carefully enforced throughout the firm.
3. Expand remote monitoring
Endpoint management and cybersecurity rules are hard to implement while remote work without the capability of automation. You require a powerful remote monitoring system that can handle all of your endpoints and it assists you in adhering to compliance standards You can reduce vulnerabilities and security concerns when you have total insight into the whole remote working network.
4. Raise employee awareness through training Because human error is so common in all firms, effective training should be offered to remote workers. This training should cover significant topics such as clicking on suspicious links, being skeptical of communications from unknown sources, using strong passwords, adopting multi-factor authentication, and so on. If your firm is subject to special compliance rules, you must give additional training to data-handling staff on best practices.
5. Make use of the appropriate tools and solutions
As cybercriminals and their strategies develop, you must ensure that you utilize the appropriate software tools and solutions to address this danger. You must use the proper antivirus, cloud backup, password manager, and other applications in addition to remote monitoring software. You must also ensure that these solutions are effectively integrated into a broader platform.
What Companies Require
Ensuring compliance is a crucial undertaking in and of itself. Doing so while also establishing remote working rules and processes may be tremendously stressful for firms. You must invest in a security solution that allows you to secure your sensitive data while also meeting compliance laws even when working remotely.
Contact us immediately so we can assist you in developing an effective compliance plan that is tailored to your specific requirements.
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