As the world is engulfed in a coronavirus-induced crisis, cyber attackers are on the prowl to take advantage of this systemic threat.

With more and more businesses being managed remotely with employees working from home, only skeleton staff is being posted at on-site locations and company offices.

At this time, employers and employees need to protect their personal and confidential company information from malicious cyber attacks. 

Here, we share some of the key steps you can take to minimize cybersecurity risks and keep your sensitive information secure. 

How Employers Can Minimize Cyber Attacks 

Maintain Confidentiality 

It pays to establish cybersecurity rules that employees need to follow when working remotely. Let them know that the company information is highly confidential and should be treated as such, even when they are working from home. 

Company emails should be used strictly for professional purposes, and printing documents are to be carefully monitored when done at home. Official papers should be ideally used online and printed only when necessary. Like in an office, critical documents should be timely shredded.

Give Remote Access 

If you are anticipating an office closure, immediately identify employees who would require remote access. Make sure that they are given remote access immediately.

Issuing authentication tokens to employees, and installing the required technology is easier when physical access is present. Once the employees go off location, doing this multifactor authentication process becomes more difficult.

Keep Your Emergency Contacts Updated 

In this crucial public health emergency time, the risk of cyber attacks runs high, so it is vital to have an ‘external way’ to communicate with your employees. An external way is a means of communicating with employees outside of the designated official communication networks. It could be a mobile number as well!

If the company systems fall prey to a cyberattack (DDoS, ransom, malware, or more), this external communication network will come in handy. Management and key personnel can communicate with each other using any secure texting application. It also ensures work continuity and is useful in thwarting any potential cyberattacks. 

With the fast advancement of remote access tools, remote work is now easier than ever. Even then, maintaining data security for all remote working employees needs a solid strategy. Planning and implementing a cybersecurity strategy helps to make sure that crucial company information does not fall into the wrong hands. 

 Personal Laptops – Never for work 

To keep cyberattacks at bay, it is recommended not to use your own laptops for doing any official work. Make sure your employees always use the designated company-issued laptops to work. In case of any queries, they should contact the information security personnel.

Using personal laptops for work increases cybersecurity risks and can enhance document preservation issues. In addition to this, employee’s laptops may not possess highly secure malware and virus protection softwares that company-issued devices tend to have.

How Employees Can Minimize Cyber Attacks 

Use Password-protected WiFi

Wifi is common these days. And cyber hackers know it too!

When you are working remotely, make sure to use only the password-protected connections. Avoid using any public WiFi network to access any confidential or sensitive company information. If you need to use a public WiFi, verify if the network is password-protected from the network’s owner. If you don’t, cyber attackers may end up accessing all your data and internet usage details.

Maintain Cyber Hygiene

Having an anti-virus and anti-malware protection on all your devices and your internet router is not optional, but vital. Doing this helps you secure the entry point into your personal and official laptops and smartphones. 

Prefer using Bluetooth? Make sure you use Bluetooth only in a known place to avoid any malicious cyber hackers from connecting to your device. Enable multi-factor authentication on all your devices as available and do all the steps as per your company guidelines for internet usage.

Beware of Phishing Emails

Cyber criminals adore the crisis.

Be extremely attentive and avoid clicking on any email that entices you with the best offer for coronavirus protection. 

In these times, business email scams are on the uptrend. Office 365 or GSuite accounts are being hacked with phishing emails that let the hacker send fraud invoices (seemingly from legitimate vendors) to their bank accounts.

You can thwart the most vicious of phishing emails if you enable multi factor authentication on your accounts. To check the validity of an internal email, you can have a quick chat with the email sender before making any payments or changing payment instructions.

Immediately Report Stolen or Lost Devices 

Did your remote work increase the chances of your device being stolen? To minimize fraud and cyber attacks, make sure that any device stolen or lost is immediately reported to your company’s information security personnel.

With effectively trained remote employees and a powerful technology-based cybersecurity network, you can keep your business data and employees completely secure and safe.

Wondering how to secure your in-office or virtual workspace?

We are here to help you minimize cyber attacks that typically grow in times of emergencies like this coronavirus crisis. 

Whether it’s ordering laptops for your staff to transition to home-based work, installing the right software to ensure your new computers are protected, and management of how your data will be stored securely, us and our partners are here to help make it easy!

We can help you devise a strong cybersecurity strategy by partnering with Cytellix, our Cybersecurity partner, who has been protecting US businesses for more than 25 years. 

Rest assured that your company is in trusted hands as you join an esteemed client base that includes NASA, US military, and the US government.

Protect your network and data security at all times and ensure complete confidentiality of your private, company, and conference calls.

Book a free consultation call with us to see how we can support your security needs. Just drop us an email at info@donyaconsultinggroup.com.