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Employees, The Home and Network Security

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While most employees know never to use a public wifi in places such as a coffee shop, they tend to think that they are safe within their own home. Regrettably, this is not the case. Hackers and cybercriminals can be next door, in the driveway or even visitors.

Therefore, any employee working remotely needs to be able to practice safe network security measures. The following steps will help you gain peace of mind that your business and your employees are safely connecting to the Internet and to your network, even at home:

Mandating Employees to Follow Security Policies Even within the Home – Since employees should have a secure internet connection for themselves anyway, it is a benefit to them that this is a requirement for working from home. However, setting down the rules, especially for remote access, sets expectations and informs employees of their responsibilities for protecting the business and their jobs.

Assessing the Employee’s Technical Abilities – Every employee has a certain level of what may be called tech savvy or computer literacy. In other words, how comfortable they are with technology, devices and peripherals, and adapting to new systems. On average, employees are aware they have a router, an in-home wifi to connect to the Internet and know how to re-boot the router. If they are not tech savvy themselves, they should be able to be guided through setting security measures by an IT professional.

Know the Manufacturer of the In-Home Router – A secure router is your first line of defense against cybercrime. Therefore, it is essential for the employee to know who makes their router, particularly since every type of router is subtly different in the exact steps it takes to manage, maintain, and secure. When creating or changing a network security key for a router, same rules apply as it is with a password: A network security key should be strong, not used in multiple places and changed frequently.

Implement 2-Factor or Multi-Factor Authentication – These types of authentication mean that you require more than just a password to login to your network systems and gain access to your business information. Anyone may have their password stolen or determined but by having that second form, or even better, multiple forms of identity, adds an extra layer of protection that is exceptionally rare to bypass. For example, with 2-Factor or Multi-Factor Authentication, employees would login with a password, and then at least one other type of identifier. These other identifiers can be answers to security questions only the employee knows; a physical identifier such as a fingerprint scan, retinal scan or voice recognition; am IT generated passcode delivered to a different device, or some combination of these and others.

Provide Third-Party IT Support – Best practices recommends that you can contract with a managed IT services provider. Through a managed IT services provider, users or your current IT staff have trustworthy experts to rely on, particularly in the areas of cybersecurity and monitoring. Also, your IT staff has access to additional resources to supply consistent services such as implementing 2-factor or multi-factor authentication, keeping security software up to date, moving systems to the cloud among many other beneficial services, all for a predictable and scalable monthly fee.

Our experienced, trustworthy team at Midnight Blue is the managed IT service provider you can partner with for help, support, and protection. We are dedicated and caring to you, your employees, and the safety of your business. Contact us. Fill out our online form, send us an email, or call us at 412-342-3800.