What Are The Potential Risks Associated With Employee Remote Access?
Working from home can be beneficial for employees, but it does also have a few security risks that you must be prepared to deal with if you’re allowing employee remote access to your IT infrastructure. In this blog from West County Computers, we’ll discuss a few of the risks you need to be aware of – and how to solve them.
- Permissive Access To Company Network Access
Many small companies do not have policies or technology in place to limit access to company networks by employees – which can lead to employees using unsecured personal devices to access company materials.It’s harder to control personal devices than it is to control devices issued by your company – and if an employee’s personal computer, phone, or tablet has been compromised by a virus and it’s used to access your corporate networks, this could lead to serious security issues.For this reason, it’s important to make sure that employees can only access corporate IT infrastructure using approved devices.
- Network Vulnerabilities Due To Lack Of Encryption
If your employees are using an unsecured network – such as an open network at a coffee shop – there is a chance their activities could be snooped on by malicious hackers. For this reason, it’s important that you encrypt all traffic to and from their computers.The best way to do this is with a VPN (virtual private network), which encrypts all traffic to and from your corporate IT infrastructure. Even if a hacker gained access to the network an employee was using, their activities would be encrypted and hidden – protecting your employees and your IT networks.
- Repeated Use Of Passwords For Personal & Corporate Logins
Most users have a bad habit of using the same passwords over and over again – for both personal and corporate logins. This can lead to potential security vulnerabilities if any of their personal accounts are exposed – particularly if they are working remotely, and are not protected by the high level of security provided by your corporate network.To deal with this threat, it’s a good idea to have strict password control policies, implement multi-factor authentication, or use a password manager to create and store strong, nearly-unbreakable passwords.
Need Help Securing Your Systems? Contact West County Computers!
At West County Computers, we can help you learn more about the best practices and tools that you can use to secure your corporate network and ensure that your workers can access your IT tools remotely – without endangering your data. Contact us now, or give us a call at 707-360-8652 to learn more.
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