Five Ways Businesses Can Stay Secure Whilst Hybrid Working

Five Ways Businesses Can Stay Secure Whilst Hybrid Working

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As the world continues to return to pre-covid practices, we notice there are many conversations about the future of hybrid working. At Extech Cloud, we help organisations by making hybrid working, work. One of the concerns that some business owners might have is the management of cybersecurity and compliance. Here are five ways you can stay secure while hybrid working.

1. Add an Extra Layer of Authentication

No matter how complex your employees’ passwords are, cybercriminals have many tools to crack them. If a hacker gains access to an employee’s email account, it can lead to many other devastating attacks. For this reason, a password should never be the only line of defence.

Multifactor authentication (MFA) adds another layer of security that prevents 99.9% of account compromise attacks. With MFA enabled, when an employee enters their password, they are prompted to provide a second form of identification to login to their account. MFA can be easily enabled within a Microsoft 365 subscription to greatly increase security and address some of the challenges involved with having less defined network boundaries whilst hybrid working.

1. Implement Virtual Desktops or Cloud PCs

If you have implemented, or considered a BYOPC / BYOD (Bring Your Own PC / Device) programme to facilitate hybrid work, be aware of the security risks. One way to mitigate these risks is to implement virtual desktops or cloud PCs. Both solutions can be deployed through Microsoft Azure and allow users to access Windows 10 and all necessary applications, from anywhere, on any device. As the security policies are set by the administrator, employees can safely use their own devices without putting the business at risk of a cyberattack.

Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) and Windows 365, from Microsoft, provide a secure method of launching a BYOPC/BYOD programme. They can also reduce your business’s hardware costs whilst providing a better experience for remote or hybrid employees.

1. Protection from Ransomware

With the constantly growing threat of ransomware, you should consider how to protect your data before it is too late. Employee education and email protection significantly lower the chance of a ransomware attack. However, as the methods cybercriminals use are becoming more advanced and sophisticated, there is still a chance of falling victim to a ransomware attack. Acronis Cyber Protect uses AI-based behavioural detection, and in the case of a ransomware attack, it will automatically remove the ransomware and revert the file to a backup to limit downtime and stop further spread of the malware. You can tailor backups to suit your needs, selecting how often they are run, and what data should be backed up.

1. Employee Education for a Strong Security Culture

A large component of a strong security culture is employee education and awareness of cybersecurity fundamentals. You cannot expect employees to report a threat or unsafe behaviour if they do not understand the cybersecurity threat landscape, or best practices. Education and training should be an ongoing process and must be engaging to ensure employees retain the information. Training should include common attack methods and how to recognise them, the potential cost of a data breach or cyberattack, and the policies and procedures to follow if employees believe they have detected an attack attempt or breach of policy. While this may not stop all potential attacks, it does provide the foundation of a security culture within an organisation. A strong security culture decreases the risk of a security incident and leads to more engaged employees.

1. Identity and Access Management

Limiting IT systems access to authorised users through identity and access management should stop cybercriminals gaining access to secure systems.

A step further is zero-trust security concepts, which assumes that there are malicious actors both inside and outside a network. No users or machines are automatically trusted, and all requests must be authenticated and authorised.

Furthermore, least-privilege access states that users should only be able to access the data they need to do their job, which greatly reduces the fallout of a data breach.

Implementing the zero-trust security model within a business ensures quality of service and consistent security. However, it is a lengthy process, that needs to be managed carefully to ensure the balance of flexibility and security is maintained. Ask us how to implement it.

There are many benefits to hybrid work, for both your business and your employees, with an increase in flexibility and productivity. It is vital to address security challenges before it is too late. Investing time and money into a comprehensive security solution now, may prevent a costly ransomware attack or data breach in the future. Find out more about how to protect your business whilst hybrid working, or how to move to hybrid work, contact us today.