Secure home working part 1: Three questions for stronger data management
Authors
Heidi Thompson
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Over the past months, we’ve all had to adapt to home working and rapidly equip teams with the tools they need to continue operating as normal. This quick shift has forced organisations to adopt new systems and services, from cloud storage platforms to file sharing tools, to keep teams connected and offer easy access to the data they need.
But in many cases, the pace of change has been prioritised over data protection. Some organisations are now left without a clear view of their security profile – creating rich opportunities for fraudsters. That’s why it’s critical you have a clear view of where your data is, how it’s being used, and who’s using it at all times of the day.
Don’t panic though; filling these data security gaps doesn’t need to be difficult. In this blog post, I’ll ask three important questions about your data. Answering them will help identify some easy ways to strengthen your security profile and keep your data safe.
QUESTION #1 – DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR DATA IS?
Even before the shift to home working in 2020, it’s likely you were either already using cloud services, or in the process of migrating some of your key resources to one. It’s a great way to lower your costs, improve collaboration across your teams, and give employees access from remote locations. But while cloud platforms provide plenty of benefits, there are a few security risks to look out for.
With many cloud platforms, it’s not always clear where your data is physically being stored, or how it’s being used. Even if you’re accessing your cloud service from the UK, many software-as-a-service (SaaS) and cloud storage providers rely on international data transfers and remote data centres to store and manage your data. And if you’re an organisation that handles sensitive data that’s bound by tight regulations, this process can create some major challenges.
When considering a SaaS or cloud provider, look closely at their data sovereignty policies, and ensure you have a clear understanding of where your data is being managed. The big three cloud storage providers – Google, Microsoft, and Amazon – all have data centres across the globe to solve this issue, and often let you choose exactly where you want your data to be kept.
Alternatively, if your organisation has specific sensitive data sets that can’t be stored on a cloud platform, you could use a hybrid cloud model to gain greater control over how your data is stored managed.
QUESTION #2 – WHAT DEVICES ARE ACCESSING YOUR DATA?
When you sent your employees to work from home, you may not have had the budget to equip everyone with new laptops and mobile devices. And that’s okay – many organisations encourage people to use their own devices for working; it saves additional costs and improves convenience for employees. But if you’re taking this approach, it’s important you have strong, standardised security measures in place.
Using personal devices can create new data security risks that might not be immediately clear. For example, most employees will be the system administrator of their own device – whether it’s their home computer or their mobile phone – which means your technology team has limited control over their security settings. If just one person’s device is compromised, it could offer direct access to data and company infrastructure.
And it’s not just digital security you need to consider – it’s the physical security of those devices too. With employees spread across different locations, it can be difficult to know who has access to their devices. In most cases it’s likely just family members, but in a worst-case scenario, it could be a thief looking to gain access to your data.
Our advice:
Overcoming risks related to personal devices is easier when you have strong endpoint security measures in place. These can often be as simple as making regular, automatic endpoint health checks using a dedicated security solution, or sometimes even native cloud platform features.
It’s also a good idea to take the time to educate your employees around common threats like phishing attacks, to ensure they can identify them when they happen, and avoid compromising the rest of your company.
QUESTION #3 – HOW ARE YOUR PEOPLE ACCESSING
YOUR DATA?
In most modern workplaces – from schools to investment banks – employees need to transfer files to each other, access shared data, and even collaborate on the same documents. When all your teams are in the office, it’s easy to connect everyone through your company’s network – but at home, it’s a new challenge.
Many businesses have turned to virtual private networks (VPNs) for a quick, user-friendly way to connect employees from remote locations as if they’re working in the office. It’s a convenient solution, but it also comes with the compromises of reduced defence against malware, limited control over employee devices, and a lack of protective resources.
In other cases, employees may have adopted their own methods of file sharing. Popular tools like WhatsApp messaging and email are all handy for sharing low-risk documents in our personal lives, but they can’t offer the robust security measures needed for handling sensitive data.
Our advice:
To prevent employees taking file sharing into their own hands, you need to ensure you’ve got a secure, reliable, and easy way for employees to access and share data.
That might be a robust cloud platform that enables real-time document collaboration and secure data storage, or through your existing infrastructure using dedicated security measures to protect transfers.
STRENGTHEN YOUR REMOTE WORKING SECURITY PROFILE
Data management is just one half of what it takes to create a strong remote working security profile.
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