7 Tips to Improve Security for Work From Home Employees

Let’s face it, the Covid-19 pandemic has changed how and where we work. Whether companies choose a hybrid approach or remain fully remote the shift has meant many employees now regularly work from home. While businesses figured out how to effectively work remotely, they often didn't implement the type of cybersecurity needed to protect remote workers. Cybercriminals have seized on this and adjusted their attacks to take advantage of the lack of security.

 So, what can you do to improve the security of your work-from-home employees? 

7 tips to Improve Remote Security

Employee Security Awareness Training

Employee security awareness training is at the top of the list as your employees are the weakest link in your company's security. An effective security awareness training program is the best way to improve your company’s security posture. Don’t know where to start? Look into security awareness training from Knowbe4 or Curricula. Curricula even offers a free forever program for companies just getting started.

Implement Managed Detection & Response

A Managed Detection & Response (MDR) service is a must-have to protect against today’s advanced threat actors and cybercriminals. This service dramatically improves your security posture by adding a team of security professionals to help protect your computers. An MDR provides your company with 24x7 around-the-clock security by professionals trained to hunt down and respond to threats that may have found their way through your other layers of defense.

Endpoint Protection Software

Endpoint Protection software is a step above your typical anti-virus. Today’s attacks are more sophisticated and anti-virus just isn’t enough. Anti-virus relies on what are called signatures to detect malware. The problem with that is that modern attacks can often be fileless or zero-day attacks that don’t have signatures. Endpoint Protection software uses a combination of machine learning and artificial intelligence to detect and thwart these types of attacks in real-time. Some examples of Endpoint Protection software are SentinelOne, Crowdstrike, and Cybereason.

Implement A VPN

A professionally implemented VPN is a must for employees that must connect back to the office work environment. A VPN secures the connection between their computer and the resources at the office. This keeps cybercriminals from being able to snoop or intercept potentially sensitive information your employees may be accessing.

Use MFA

Implement multi-factor (MFA) or 2-factor authentication (2FA) for work accounts. Most companies today use either Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. These accounts are primary targets for threat actors and thus require a higher level of security than just a password. I have personally seen what could have been potentially devastating attacks thwarted because MFA stopped an attacker in their tracks.

Web or DNS Filtering

Web or DNS Filtering is a critical part of securing computers when they are off the corporate network. This is a must-have for your work-from-home employees. Web or DNS filtering protects against primary threats to remote employees such as phishing, ransomware, and websites that host malware. It’s there to protect you when a threat has made its way through other security measures.

Advanced Spam Filter

Phishing and ransomware attacks are on the rise and showing no signs of slowing down. An Advanced spam filter will significantly bolster your company’s chances of thwarting this type of attack. Advanced spam filters take advantage of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to catch things a typical spam filter might miss. Some examples of this type of filter are ProofPoint, SpamTitan, and Barracuda Test