Many employers in Atlanta are intending to make remote working the “new normal.” After all, many firms have already invested in the infrastructure necessary to let people work from home — and consequently, they want to use it. But that carries with it some additional risks. Let’s take a look at the technological risks that work-from-home employees engender.
Crimes of Opportunity: Poorly Secured Offices
First, there’s one threat many people don’t think about. Employees are working at home. They might think to use a VPN when connecting to their office and they might think to secure and password-protect their laptop. What they might not realize is they also need to secure the thumb drive on their desk. Because of poorly secured offices, information can get out when people least expect it; all that it requires is for a child to grab a USB drive containing critical intellectual property.
Lost Devices: Tablets, Phones, and Even Laptops
But when most people think about cyber risks, they think about tablets, laptops, and phones. If someone loses a device that has confidential information on it, that information could be compromised. It all depends on how well-encrypted the information is. Many companies are moving away from storing information on devices themselves and toward storing them on the cloud; employees are only able to access a gateway to that information rather than downloading the information itself.
A cracked device, however, can create considerable havoc for a company. If a device wasn’t password-protected, then it might be used to log into a company’s network. Soon, everything on the network could be compromised. The company might also have to take its servers and system down to upgrade and repair them. Cyber insurance can help defray the costs of such a compromise, but better still is avoiding it altogether. Companies can avoid this through comprehensive mobile device management policies, business-only devices, and the right authentication infrastructure.
Poorly Secured Connections: VPNs and Software Security
Even if someone’s device is secure, there’s still a time when its data can be vulnerable. That happens when data is being transferred between the device and the internet. Often, people would use public services such as a coffee shop WiFi to complete their work. They might not pay attention to how secure these connections were, and someone might be listening in. Today, people are less likely to be using public utilities like WiFi when working from home. But they should still be using a VPN, which can reduce the chances that someone can spy on their activity.
A lot of information can be gleaned from “listening in” on internet connections, including passwords and usernames, email addresses, personally identifiable information, and financial information. Once this information is uncovered, it can be used to steal someone’s identity and break into a work network. Again, Atlanta cyber insurance can help organizations suffering from a cyber attack — absorbing many costs related to having to repair, upgrade, and otherwise modify the system, and the costs related to liabilities.
Thus, there are three main vectors of cybersecurity risk. Employees may not take care of materials in their office, they may lose their devices, or they may accidentally transmit information on unsecured or unencrypted connections.
Most of these issues can be addressed with the right technology and protocols. But even the best equipped and most conscientious office will experience a security breach. Today, this is often countered through cyber liability insurance. For more information, contact the professionals at Atlanta Insurance.
