Managing The Data Protection Risks Associated With Remote Working

There are a lot of great things about working remotely and it’s likely that businesses will move away from the traditional office model in the future. It’s more flexible for employees and businesses can save money on real estate costs. However, any company that wants to implement more remote workers must be aware of the potential data security issues. Protecting sensitive data is more important than ever as cyber-crime is on the rise and there are a lot more risks when people are working from home using their own devices. However, if you follow these simple steps, you can overcome those data protection challenges. 

Access And Authentication Services 

If people are working remotely using their own laptops, what happens if their computer is stolen? Somebody may be able to gain access to all of the sensitive documents that they were working with, and that’s bad news for your business. That’s why it’s vital that you have effective identity management solutions in place to make sure that only those that are authorized can access company documents and information. With a good access and authentication service in place, you can ensure that only employees that have a direct need to access data can do so. Being able to control access also means that you can trace the source of a data breach if it does happen, so you can improve your security in the future. 

VPNs 

One of the great things about working remotely is that you can be completely flexible about where you work. If you decide that you want to get out of the house and work in a local coffee shop, you can. But even though running a business on the move does have its benefits, you need to be careful about the wifi that you use. If you are in a hotel or a coffee shop and you connect to public wifi, it probably won’t be secure and it will be easy for somebody to get into your computer and start stealing sensitive data. The easiest way to get around this is to use a VPN (virtual private network) to give yourself an added layer of protection. This makes it much more difficult for anybody to gain access to your computer so your data is safe wherever you are. 

Improve Backup Systems 

It’s always important to have a good data backup system in place so you can recover lost data, but it’s even more vital when people are using the same device for business and personal use. When people are using their laptop for personal use, they are far more likely to engage in dangerous activity, like illegally downloading movies or accidentally clicking on a phishing email. If there is no backup in place, all of the data on the laptop will be lost immediately. However, if you invest in cloud storage and teach employees the importance of regular backups, you can avoid this. 

When working remotely, data security should always be a priority because the risks are much higher and a data breach can have a serious impact on your business.