It wasn’t until the pandemic that it went from optional to a necessity, and it’s sped up digital transformations in a drastic way.Rapidly employers had to consider evolution as far as their IT infrastructure, how employees could access the resources they needed to do their jobs, even when working from unsecured Wi-Fi networks, and how to create policies conducive to this new way of doing business.Employers and IT teams have lost much of their centralized visibility to see what’s happening on their network.
Employees are laxer about cybersecurity when they’re working from home.There’s also often a lack of clarity on remote work because there aren’t well-defined policies in place.With all of this in mind, the following is a guide to what businesses should know about transitioning to a more permanent version of remote work, or at least a hybrid environment.An Overview of Remote WorkNow that we’re significantly into the pandemic, both limitations and benefits of employees working remotely has become much clearer.
That could mean, if practice followed the estimation, that three to four times as many people would be working from home than they were before the pandemic.As was touched on above, there are challenges, including not just the technical considerations but also how to coach employees, ensure there’s recognition and maintain a cultural connection to the company.Specific business considerations stemming from remote work include:Fraud—there’s the potential for fraud to become a more significant risk when employees work from home.
You want to make sure that leadership is regularly communicating with them, sharing goals, and reinforcing your corporate vision.
Employees may not know how to work securely when they’re remote, or they may be less vigilant when they’re not in the office environment.
It’s also hard for employees to discern what’s a phishing scam because they’re highly sophisticated in many cases.Passwords: Even when you’re utilizing VPNs, firewalls, and more traditional means of securing your network, if employees have weak passwords or reuse them, you’re at risk.