Usually when there’s a topic of discussion that you can’t get away from, there’s a significant reason for it. And the COVID-19 pandemic is certainly significant. Although the long-term impacts are still unknown, one thing is certain, more people are working from, and more people will continue to work flexibly long after a vaccine is developed.
In many ways, the modern workplace is now a modern workforce – executing tasks from anywhere, at any time, on any device. It poses many challenges for IT managers as they work to implement tools and policies to not only facilitate productivity, but keep business-critical information and data secure.
To help with this endeavour, here’s your complete A-Z list of considerations for delivering productive and secure remote working practices.
Asset management. With a decentralised device fleet, knowing which employees have what and where is integral to maintaining your bottom-line and forecasting future purchases.
Benefits come with flexibility. 85% of business leaders feel employee productivity increases as a result of staff having greater flexibility.1
Connect only to trusted Wi-Fi networks. Open and free ‘guest’ networks pose a security risk when anyone can connect to them. If possible, we recommend each employee leveraging a network solely for work purposes that has a suitable VPN included, eliminating the possibility of personal household devices compromising the work network.
Devices that are fit-for-purpose. Everyone works differently with different requirements depending on their roles. Staff need the right devices for them to work at optimal productivity.
Education. You’re only as strong as your weakest link. It’s imperative that staff are educated in identifying potential phishing scams and malware variants across the web.
Facilitate streamlined collaboration and communication channels with tools that keep your staff connected and productive.
Geography is no barrier to cybercrime, nor should it be a barrier to productivity if the right tools are in place.
Hackers are looking to exploit the current state of play. Educate your staff on how to identify potential phishing scams as crime entities tailor their content to prey on people’s thirst for news and information.
Industry leading hardware-enforced security features from HP – leverage HP EliteBook PCs powered by Intel® Core™ processors that are designed to protect your device fleet and data with in-built tools that thwart threats across every level of the operating system.2
Justified. Investment in the right technology is easily justified when you factor in the financial, reputational, and intellectual property impact of a cybersecurity breach.
Key to maintaining business continuity and adapting. With the right technology and security practices in place, you’re well positioned to be agile in the event of future disruption or unplanned change.
Lean on expertise if you don’t have it in-house. There is a severe shortage of cybersecurity resources across the industry, in addition to IT teams already being time and resource short. Lean on experts to help you address your secure remote workforce needs.
Managing a remote workforce day-to-day can be incredibly time consuming and detracts from your internal IT team’s ability to drive growth and differentiation. Working with a trusted IT partner can offset this though, leaving your resources free to focus on the tasks that really matter.
New vulnerabilities appear with a remote workforce. Unknown routers and Wi-Fi networks, default passwords and household personal devices are just the tip of the iceberg.
Opportunity to trial new technologies and collaboration platforms. With staff here, there and everywhere, now is the perfect opportunity to trial new software tools that could revolutionise your overall business.
Policies must be clear and adhered to. When implementing new policies, they must be embraced across the business from the top-down if you want full buy-in from staff.
Quick to respond might not be good enough. To mitigate the risk as best as humanly possible, you must adopt a proactive security strategy, where you’re identifying risks before they wreak actual damage. Simply responding to an attack quickly might not be enough to avoid the consequences.
Remote management is integral. You need visibility into the status of your device fleet, including the current health-status of devices, being able to see what staff are accessing, and for executing routine updates and security patches when necessary.
Sophistication of cyber threats is growing. With the continued development of AI and machine learning technologies, cyber threats are growing more potent by the day. To combat this, you need security tools that leverage the same AI technologies, like HP Sure Sense, which gives you real-time detection and protection of zero-day attacks.3
Technology is the enabler of your remote workforce, but it must be fit-for-purpose, correctly managed and possess the right security tools to off-set all the vulnerabilities and challenges.
Ultra-fast – this is the nature of the digital economy.
Video and conference calls have sky-rocketed in recent times, but they can also be a window into your staff’s private world through spyware and ransomware. Keep them closed when not being used. HP Privacy Camera is a great tool to maintain best-practice video calling4 and comes built in to all HP EliteBook PCs powered by Intel® Core™ processors.
Watch out for anything that might seem suspicious – emails, pdf files, malicious websites and links. Vigilance from staff and management at all times.
X is the roman numeral for 10. Multiply that number by 35,000 and you get 350,000 – the number of new malware variants that appear on the internet every single day.
You’re not alone. There are trusted IT providers that can help you secure your remote workforce and deliver the right technology for your specific needs. Like Landmark Computers!
Zero-day attacks. 4x more powerful than known threats5, it’s important you have technology and management systems in place to proactively identify and protect against these threats.
At Landmark Computers, we are strongly recognised as one of Australia’s best-in-class IT procurement specialists, providing the right tools for the right jobs. And we’re proud to announce that we now offer managed services in addition to our procurement capabilities. If you’re struggling to get on top of your remote workforce, lack the necessary resources to maintain security practices, or need advice on identifying the right technology for your staff, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Melbourne’s most trusted IT store since 1994.