Secure remote access: controlling access for employees working from home

Until everything returns to normal post-pandemic, one thing is certain: working from home is here to stay. Smart companies are those that use technology to their advantage to protect employees working remotely. Although this is not common practice for most, data security has become a widespread concern in the business world, seeking improvements in protection systems and, above all, avoiding (further) revenue losses or investments in related repairs.

With that in mind, we will now look at the dangers of working from home and some ways to avoid such problems.

What are the dangers of remote work?

Imagine a company with 70 employees working directly on computers connected to the internet every day. Due to health reasons, almost all of them had to adopt remote work from their homes.

Previously, the only point of attack was the company's internal network, where the company's protection system covered all connected employees. Now, with home office work, the potential points of attack are many, and can be multiplied if employees use more than one device at home. There's also the fact that there's no control over tasks or access to personal computers or those outside the company network. In the worst-case scenario, with remote access to the company network, all sensitive and important data can be encrypted or hijacked by cybercriminals.

The biggest challenge for companies that use remote work as their trump card to keep the business fully operational is keeping their data secure and their employees under control.

It is extremely difficult for companies that do not have a developed IT department or one dedicated to information security to have control over the infrastructure that their remote employees are using to work. Speaking of IT, we recently published the IT Guide for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises , which I believe will be useful if you have problems related to this.

Secure remote access

Security has always been thought of as a combination of people, processes, and technology, but now, technology is playing a larger role in this scenario, enabling companies to operate through remote access.

While it is preferable for employees to be physically present, secure remote access allows organizations to manage the process of accessing sensitive and critical business systems responsibly and securely, providing the ability to see who is using the business infrastructure.

Amid the pandemic, a large portion of teams are working remotely, or from home, as it's commonly known. With this in mind, we've published the Home Office Guide for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises , offering a wealth of information and tools for those who use this work modality, or intend to use it.

Many people try to suppress technology simply because they believe that many of their tasks can be replaced by it; however, it is the organization's duty to ensure the security of the data used by employees, whether through technology that eliminates manual tasks or not.

Access control

If access control in companies is already difficult in person, imagine how much harder it is remotely. While employees can use the internet for their daily tasks, they can also misuse it, leading to low productivity, inattention, data security problems, and incalculable losses for the company.

Controlling internet access in companies is a fundamental policy in managing teams and technology resources, especially in home office settings.

Below we list some benefits and advantages that such action provides:

1.  Greater productivity and quality in tasks
2.  Focus on company tasks
3.  Protection against online threats
4.  Fewer occurrences of problems with viruses and malware
5. Monitoring and information about internet usage
6. Improved system and computer performance
7.  Lower equipment maintenance costs

Best practices for secure remote access

To help ensure safe operational practices related to remote access, we have listed below some best practices that companies and employees can follow:

1. Use antivirus software on all computers.
2. Two-factor authentication (2FA)
3. backup copies of important data.
4. Monitor remote access connections, gaining greater visibility into all remote systems that interact with your network
5. Create and implement access policies and secure remote access rules
6. Regularly check your system settings to prevent unauthorized changes
7. Keep your software and operating systems up to date
8. Update your passwords regularly, using strong and secure ones.

How to easily implement secure remote access control

A Business VPN is a great solution specifically for small and medium-sized businesses, allowing them to offer their employees secure remote access and monitor security threats.

A major advantage of Lumiun's Business VPN compared to other corporate VPN solutions is that it applies the same internet access protection and monitoring rules to employees working remotely from home as exist on the company's internal network, if one exists. This maintains the internet usage policy , aiming to improve information security and employee productivity.

The tool provides detailed visibility into each remote connection, as well as the ability to fully control each user and device access. In other words, you can see exactly what your employees are accessing, when, and define access rules for each of them, thus keeping all data transmitted via remote access much more secure and controlled.

Lumiun is easy to install, requiring no technical knowledge, and comes with full support for any difficulties encountered.

If you would like more information, please visit our website or speak to a consultant ; it's quick and without obligation.

Until next time!