If the COVID outbreak has taught us anything, it is that IT infrastructures are not the ones to be doomed by a virus outbreak. It can work proficiently from the confines of one’s home as well. But another learning we can take away from this unprecedented situation would be to plan for the worst-case scenarios. With many IT functions being pushed to be operated remotely after COVID, these have become the new vantage points for hackers to attack and steal data from.

Cyber-attacks have significantly increased since several IT responsibilities started being handled remotely. Many countries recorded over double the number of cyber-attacks in April 2020 compared to normal. According to statistics, over half a million people worldwide were affected by security breaches, leading to users’ personal data being sold over the Dark Web.

With attacks getting increasingly complex and critical to lure you into their confines, companies now require proactive and ever-evolving security reforms to secure their remote workers.

How Can Small Businesses Protect their Remote Workers?

Here are a few steps you can undertake to help your business navigate the minefield of cyber-attacks and effectively protect your business and remote workers. Following these steps will help you start a process to protect your workers, but full-on, ever-evolving security requires an entire process and procedure managed by IT solution providers.

Clear definition between remote and office roles

You should clearly define a distinction between the roles you want to be operated from the office and roles you want to be operated from remote locations. If you have positions requiring workers to deal with confidential information on an everyday basis, make sure workers work on it from the office instead of remote workplaces.

Create an official list of cybersecurity software and tools

An official list of tools to be used for cybersecurity would bring parity in between the security gridlock amongst all your employees. This would level out the security of your pool of employees, ensuring there are no vulnerable spots. This list should include apps to be used for daily duties such as video conferencing as well as storing company data.

Contingency plan

A contingency plan would help train your employees for the worst-case scenarios, detailing an action plan to follow in case your IT network is hacked despite all security measures. This would also ensure that after an attack, essential steps are taken to safeguard data without losing precious time.

A Detailed Guide on How to Dispose of Data

It’s possible that data disposed of incorrectly might lead to data compromise and pilferage. A detailed manual including instructions on how to dispose of data would allow your company to circumvent such scenarios. A company shredder should be installed from the get-go to dispose of physical copies of data, and a detailed plan should be drawn for doing away with digital data.

Concluding Thoughts

Effective planning and vulnerability monitoring would help your remote workers and business against data theft and other cyber-attacks. These would help your business run smoothly and reach its goals on time. Contingency plans and services about how to recover essential info after an attack and get your business back online as soon as possible are also proposed by IT consulting companies like One82.

One82 is a Managed IT Service Provider that helps small businesses realize their objectives by providing 360-degree IT support. Our team of experts becomes part of your organization to manage your daily IT activities effectively. With mature and reliable cyber security and cloud solutions, we take our client’s IT architecture to the next level.

We have only one objective in mind – to make seamless organizational workflow possible for our clients. Contact us today to upgrade your business.