Top tips to safeguard your network when employees are working from home – Economic Times

By Karmesh GuptaIn recent weeks, working from home has become the new normal. With Covid-19 keeping everyone indoors in the safety of their homes, enterprises are worried about the safety of their proprietary data as a sizeable number of employees are accessing their company accounts and sensitive data using personal devices.

Working from home is necessary for companies to continue functioning. However, the real challenge in the world of employees working from their own homes is not the slack in productivity or the threat of transmission of the virus, but cybersecurity.

CxOs have the advantage of calling system admins over to their home offices and setting up their network connections up to corporate standard to ensure data safety. However, for other employees, the risk of a data breach is very real. That not only threatens the integrity of a company, but also increases the headache of the CxOs and their share of work.

So, what should you do to ensure that your company network is safe while your employees are working from their homes

1. Provide VPN access to your employeesOne of the easiest and cost-efficient ways to protect your company network and data is by providing all employees with VPN (virtual private network) access. Deploy a VPN so the data moves securely between the companys core systems and the devices used by your employees. A VPN adds an extra layer of security, and heres what it can do for your employees a. Hide their IP addressb. Encrypt the data being transferred between devices using the VPNc. Mask the location of the sender and the recipient of the dataMany of the larger corporations already have a VPN in place. Smaller ones might need to choose a VPN provider. Ensure that all your remote employees have access to the VPN service. If necessary hold a meeting or share tutorials on how to use a VPN efficiently to protect company network.

2. Ensure complete security of your VPNChoosing a VPN service out of a list of the best-rated ones is not enough. You need to ensure that it delivers the highest level of security to your company network that it promises. For that, the employer or the company IT team needs to focus on the encryption used by the VPN.

The strength of any encryption depends upon the bit size of the encryption key. The strength of the encryption depends upon the length of the key. Longer keys can provide optimal protection against brute force attacks.

The RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) encryption system has been popular for over two decades. It is an asymmetric encryption system that can utilize various key lengths including 1024-bits and 2048-bits. RSA-2048 or higher is necessary for corporate networks to optimize their VPN tunnel. Till date, it is one of the few that has not been accessed by an unauthorized third-party.

3. Use MAC binding Your IT team can use MAC binding to control which devices can access your closed company network. MAC address binding links MAC addresses of LAN and WiFi interface of employees official machine with the VPN User Id.

After static MAC binding, only the device (computer, laptop, iPad or mobile phone), with a specified and approved MAC address can receive and send information across the VPN only.

It also discourages employees from using their personal devices for official work. Since personal devices rarely have updated OSx and state-of-the-art firewalls, using them can increase the risk of data breaches and DNS attacks

4. Implement multi-factor authenticationTwo-factor or multi-factor authentication is an effective way to deter unauthorized users from accessing your company network. Work with your IT team to set up two-factor authentication systems for each employee who needs to log into their company user profile remotely.

A multi-factor authentication could be a combination of the following a. Something known to the user (user ID, PIN, or a secret question)b. Security key, token or card that the user possesses physically or can be sent to the registered mobile number of the userc. Biometric identification (if supported by the users device)In most cases, biometric identification is far-fetched for those working from home. Therefore, two-factor authentication, or a combination of user ID along with a one-time-password (OTP) sent to the users personal registered number is used as a hallmark of security in the country.

5. Discourage the use of third-party remote access platformDeploying a remote desktop service (RDS) or application can result in a bottleneck in the network unless the IT team can adjust and size the network suitably. In case your team has to use a remote desktop service, it is imperative for the CxO to set up a remote desktop service monitoring system.

The RDS can be the weakest link in the chain and allow third-party intervention. It can threaten the security of your company network despite the use of the best VPN service in town.

You and your team should choose the RDS very wisely before you begin exchanging information and holding meetings on the remote desktop platform.

Remote working is the life-blood of thousands of small and large companies across the country right now. However, it is also important to safeguard the company data while your employees are working from the safety of their own homes. Make wise choices like setting up a VPN with RSA-2048 or higher, using MAC binding and leveraging multi-factor authentication to keep the sensitive data and information of your company safe and secure.

The writer is CEO& Co-founder, Wijungle.

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Top tips to safeguard your network when employees are working from home - Economic Times