With a rising number of freelance workers and those that are shifting from the traditional 9-to-5 into something a little more fluid, many are starting to see the benefit of working from home and completing work remotely. However, with the emerging COVID-19 pandemic that has affected businesses all around the globe in unforeseen ways, many have been prematurely forced to adopt work from home tactics, as they self-isolate for the foreseeable.
Working remotely and from home does certainly have its benefits, but there are also some different hurdles and obstacles that you must overcome, including some of the security risks that come as a by-product of accessing work from outside of the office. Want to make sure that you’re doing all you can to secure your business effectively when working from home? Here are a few different ideas that you might want to consider.
Use the Right, Secure Software
We spend pretty much all of our time working on a computer in this day and age, and so it’s imperative that you’re using a device that’s equipped not only with the right toolset to allow you to do your job efficiently and properly but also with one that’s secured and has the right anti-virus software installed to protect your data from a threat. If you run a business and you’re worried about your colleagues using the right kit, you might decide to allow them to take their workstations home with them – that way they’re all using the same, uniform equipment to continue normality as much as possible.
Cloud software is something that many different businesses and workers are choosing to use during self-isolation, as it allows you to access your work remotely, and carry on as normal where possible. If you’re using one of these services, make sure that your passwords and credentials are safe and secure, with individual colleagues having their own logins so that you can track who is editing and accessing files.
Secure Your Business Financially
With many different businesses forced to shut down during self-isolation, and some shutting down entirely as a result, it’s a tough time financially. Take a look at some of the different expenditures in your business, and perhaps evaluate if you can afford to cut back on things, even if it’s just for the time being.
From a personal perspective, if you have an investment portfolio, whether than be one that’s separate from your work or something that is supporting your business venture, you should be paying closer attention to that as the weeks go by, too. Some volatile markets tend to suffer during times like these, dipping in ways that can have drastic effects on your income streams if you’re not careful. Many with investments in stocks and shares, for example, are choosing to shift their capital into something a bit more secure, such as property investment – known for being a long-standing investment type.
You might think that it would be difficult to build your investment prospects from home, but in fact, it’s quite the opposite. RWinvest, a property investment company from the UK with offerings throughout the country, make their resources and opportunities readily available online in many different formats, from articles and guides to podcasts and even VR viewings.
Control Who Sees the Information
Working from home, you and your colleagues, of course, need to have access to the relevant resources and facilities to complete the job the best you can. If you have a company database with different folders and sections for the different departments, then you can change permissions to ensure that people are only accessing what they need to be. Aside from anything else, this will save space on their computers if they’re downloading files, and help with efficiency.
Another thing that you might choose to do is designate specific work computers or devices that are allowed to access the information and encrypt them. This way, you can be sure that information about your company (and also potential company clients, customers, etc.) is only being used in the right ways.
Tip – To make sure that everyone is working on the same page, it might be worth drafting up a guide to using technology securely, or even a document (such as an NDA) for them to sign that says they understand that they should only be using sensitive information where needed, and how they would typically in the workplace.