Basics To Secure Remote Work From Home

Source: CIOReview

The four walls around one central premise for housing personals, machines and utilities is fast blurring. Blame it on the business, commercial, or strategic requirements, but the dynamics of the normal workspace and its inhabitants are changing. Business expansions demanding branch offices, evolving technology producing telecommuters and nomadic workers are increasingly becoming common. Remote work locations are a usual and essential phenomenon for today’s enterprises, be it a branch office or the bedroom of an employee. regardless of how new the face of the fashionable workforce becomes, one thing will never change — the need for exchanging data between the equipments at remote locations and therefore the central IT infrastructure. But, unlike the IT network within the headquarter perimeter which enjoys a high level of insulation against threats and leakages, the channel linking the remote locations are vulnerable. On this front, any organization is probably going to encounter these basic security risks: a secure connection to the organization’s network via public internet, personal devices which will be employed by the remote worker, and therefore the potential of unauthorized access into the company’s assets which will be data or equipments. But, one might wonder — aren’t these concerns prevalent within the headquarters’ perimeter as well? Indeed the concerns remain an equivalent , but remote location by definition poses some challenges that amplify the safety risks.

The first challenge arises thanks to a limited number of workers at remote locations, which can or might not be distributed. Therein case dedicating an IT expertise at remote site isn’t feasible, or just unaffordable for a few to place their IT teams on road to secure different locations. A centrally managed IT security solution could also be useful in providing an efficient security umbrella for all locations, but may be a costly affair.

The next obstacle surfaces once a foreign location’s network security has been taken care of. After now some kind of technical issues within the future are inevitable, which can hamper or maybe halt productivity. Trying to resolve issues over the phone may be a frustrating option during this situation. Organizations would need to either ship IT support from central location, or ship faulty devices back and forth till the matter resolves.

The least a corporation should do

The smallest step are often installing VPN and firewall at the remote locations. A VPN will encrypt the traffic between the remote location and central network creating a secure tunnel through public internet. Whereas, a firewall will monitor the traffic and let through only those which satisfy predefined set of rules. But, remember this first line of defense is strongest only the VPN and firewall running at the remote and central locations are same. an economical thanks to achieve this first line of defense is to travel for routers that have both these applications in-built. Counting on the seller , some routers can also offer additional capabilities like advanced encryption and authentication features.

The next step are often installing security software within the devices employed by the remote workers. Good antivirus and anti-spyware are bare essentials of this step. And, a bit like the primary step make sure that software installed within the devices at remote and central location are same for max possible efficiency. Provided the rising trend of using personal devices like smartphones and tablet PCs for paperwork , confirm those devices are under the radar also .

At the top this goes without saying that one among the simplest approaches, which is additionally the essential , is to make sure that devices are protected with undecipherable passwords.

A cost effective, efficient and centralized defense

An innovative approach is to integrate the safety defenses at remote locations within the company structure by fixing a virtual coaxial cable between them. this needs a foreign Ethernet device (RED) that sits at remote locations, but is centrally provisioned by a strong security gateway which may be located at the central location or the cloud. RED is typically delivered unconfigured to the remote locations where it activated and connected to the IT grid. Once online RED automatically retrieves setup information to configure itself then establishes an encrypted channel with the central location, without the physical presence of IT staff. After completion of installation RED forwards encrypted traffic from the remote location to the central provisioning, where the traffic is scanned and filtered before being sent to internet.

Once the IT channel between remote and central locations are secured, organizations should reassess their IT policies for an overall consolidated network. Most significantly , the policies like security measures mentioned earlier should be same between remote and central locations, the maximum amount as possible.

Businesses to Embrace Remote Worker Revolution

The concept of remote working has been around here for a short time , but only lately has technology allowed these possibilities to be considered by companies of all sizes across all industries. In 2018, 57% of employees working within the computer had spent their time working remotely, consistent with a report on workplace findings by Gallup. Companies are implementing remote policies to maximize the growing pool of high-end, niche IT professionals, and attract top talent.

Companies are moving faraway from the normal ways of operating to incorporate more remote opportunities and work flexibility because it’s a win-win chance. With, companies get the highest talent available while saving on various costs and employees get to figure whenever and wherever they need , while eliminating the challenge of commuting. Studies also show that remote working isn’t just flexible and convenient but more productive too.

The most impactful advantage of hiring remote talent is that the potential to access otherwise unreachable talent. If a corporation lack the expertise it needs during a particular area, it can access that talent via remote contracts. instead of paying to relocate an expert professional to the specified area, companies can save on those costs and instead hire them as a foreign employee, expanding the reach of talent globally.

Most remote workers remark that they’re more satisfied with working remotely. For distant working retention rates are higher, HR costs are lower, and businesses that expand their remote work policies tend to experience more growth. Companies can significantly reduce their overhead costs by hiring remote teams instead of on-location teams. Remote employees often work on lower pays than internal employees, which suggests more savings and better ROI.

The rising trend of remote working shows no signs of slowing down; instead, it’s gaining momentum. Taking under consideration the advantages it’s to a business, and this could come as no surprise given the technological advancements that have made employing remote professionals more productive and successful than ever.

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The Basics of Securing Remote Work Locations

It is Time For Businesses to Embrace Remote Worker Revolution