Updated on January 4, 2024
One of the risks associated with remote team management is security. Businesses must be aware of the best security practices for remote teams to avoid potentially hefty consequences in the long haul.
The rise of remote work in recent years has brought many benefits for companies and employees. With the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have shifted to remote work.
These days, many companies are enjoying the perks that come with remote work, such as flexibility and cost savings. However, remote work has also presented new challenges, particularly regarding security. This blog post will list the best security practices for remote teams in the dynamic tech scene.
Top 5 Security Practices for Remote Teams
Security is essential for any remote work setup as it helps to protect sensitive data, customer information, and the company’s reputation. With the increasing number of cybersecurity threats, it’s important to take proactive measures to safeguard your company’s assets and data.
As more and more employees work from home, companies and software development teams need to implement best practices for security to protect their data and networks from potential threats. Here are five best practices for ensuring the security of your remote work setup:
1. Use a virtual private network (VPN)
A Virtual Private Network or VPN is an online mechanism or service that connects your computer to the internet in a secure virtual space. This service is especially useful when you are connected to public networks. Thus, it is one of the must-have security practices for remote teams.
When you use a VPN, you can encrypt your internet connection and protect your data from hackers. Any sensitive information you transmit over the internet is secure and cannot be intercepted by third parties. However, the key here is that you must choose a dependable VPN service.
Furthermore, you also need to apply a secure application gateway when using VPNs. An application gateway would serve as a proxy that protects an employee’s device behind a firewall. When you use a VPN service, make sure to apply a corporate secure application gateway for remote employees with unsecured network connections. This way, you’ll have better security visibility and monitoring of employees’ devices at home.
2. Implement two-factor authentication (2FA)
Two-factor authentication would ensure integrity for all the company’s workflows. 2FA is fundamentally an access management method to verify a user’s identity prior. This method basically requires a user to use two forms of identification before gaining access to a system, network, or tool.
For example, an employee logs in to the company’s communication software using a new device. In this case, they will have to provide their username and password. Then, there will be another factor for identification that may come in as an OTP (one-time pin). The system sends an OTP to a user’s mobile device based on their registered information.
Two-factor authentication will provide an additional layer of security and make it more difficult for unauthorized users to access your data. You need to implement these security practices for remote teams.
3. Regularly update all software and security tools
To ensure that you have the latest security patches and features for all your systems, you must regularly keep your software and security applications updated. When possible, you must encourage everyone on your team to turn on updates automatically for your apps and security tools. These security practices for remote teams will help protect your systems and networks from known vulnerabilities.
4. Educate your employees about good security practices
At the end of the day, security practices begin and end with education. When working with remote employees, you must do your share of the work by educating them about security practices for remote teams.
Do your research on what works for your organization and setup. You can consult IT administration experts to help you map out what needs to be done for your remote systems. And then, you can share the best security practices with remote teams and the potential risks associated with remote work.
Ensure they understand the importance of the simplest things, like keeping their passwords secure, not sharing their login credentials, and not clicking on suspicious links or attachments.
5. Implement a backup and disaster recovery plan
We hear it over and over like a broken record. If you fail to plan, you’re just planning to fail. And, in this case, it is very much accurate. A security plan is necessary for two main reasons.
For one, the plan provides an overview of your security protocols and maps out the applications and tools you use along with their access information. The next main reason is that the plan should have risk management and mitigation steps for possible system hiccups and transgressions.
The backup and recovery plan ensures that you can quickly and easily restore your systems and data in case of a security breach or other emergency.
Hire Remote Professional Software Developers Today
By implementing these best practices, companies and software development teams can ensure the security of their remote work setup and protect against potential threats. And to make this job easier, why don’t you hire software professionals from a reliable software development partner?
That’s right! Full Scale is your one-stop solution for all your software development needs. We provide software development resources to our global clients through our vast pool of tech experts.
Our vetting process ensures that every hire we make qualifies our global standards and is well-rounded in software development, both in technical and soft skills. Here’s how you can hire software professionals from Full Scale:
