National Home Office Safety and Security Week | Abbotsford I.T. Services

Home Office Safety and Security is becoming more and more important. Because of the you-know-what (you know… that virus thing…) remote working has really taken off. OK, maybe not “taken off” per se. It has more been thrust upon us!

Of course, there are lots of advantages to working from home. No commuting costs. Flexible hours. No dress codes. Sole control of the thermostat!

But there are also some drawbacks to remote work too. Particularly for company data security and mental well-being. Which is probably why so many being organizations are keen to see workers return to the office environment.

Unfortunately, Omicron has put a bit of a kink into that return plan. So, workers are back to remote-work again, or engaged in some kind of hybrid schedule.

Well, how are things going for remote workers? And what challenges come from working away from the office setting?

Time to Take Stock of Home Office Safety and Security.

This week is National Home Office Safety and Security Week! It is a great opportunity for companies to take stock of the vulnerabilities and dangers that remote work can have… and protect against them.

From a technology point of view, the biggest concern has to be cybersecurity.  Since remote work increased, so did the number of attacks. Cybercriminals took full advantage of the potential gaps in security protocol that may come from working remotely. But what other dangers come from working remotely?

Well, here are top I.T. areas of concern to take a look at, if you have employees working remotely…

Online Security

As we mentioned earlier, this is the biggest concern. Just one click can cost your companies up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in data recovery costs and downtime. Can your business afford to take that kind of hit?

Not only do all remote machines need the same level of anti-virus protection as those in the office environment, but so do their connections to the internet itself. Do you use VPN access? How secure are your employees’ routers? How often are they running updates and patches to minimize threats? And how well trained are employees on the latest ransomware threats and how to spot them?

Company Procedures

Do your company protocols and procedures have an updated section on remote working?

Staff may be aware of the expectations for technology use in the office. But what about at home? And who will monitor the appropriate use of company technology out of the office environment?

Possible Theft Risks

How secure is the environment where the devices are going to be kept? And does your business insurance cover theft in remote office environments?  If a device is stolen, do staff know exactly what the reporting procedure is?

Need more help with Home Office Safety and Security?

Keeping updated with the latest security threats and requirement is almost a full-time job at the best of times. Add the combo of office and remote workers, and it can leave your head spinning! We handle the cybersecurity headaches, so businesses can go back to doing what they do best – their actual job. If you are based in the BC Fraser Valley, contact us!