10 measures to increase safety and productivity when working remotely
Remote working presents many opportunities for businesses, but also presents the following challenges:
- securing the company as a whole
- ensuring that employees have access to the resources they need to be productive.
Here are a few essential measures to meet these challenges and ensure business continuity in all circumstances.
Deploy single sign-on
Single sign-on allows the IT department to manage access from a single view, with the flexibility to grant or revoke access if necessary.
90% of companies say that user access management is very important as part of the organisation's overall security (1).
Add multi-factor authentication
Multi-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security and biometrics for a seamless login experience.
59% of companies rank the strengthening of user authentication as one of the key areas for improvement in identity and access management (IAM) (1).
Use contextual factors
Context-sensitive strategies can be used to apply authentication methods tailored to the connection process, for greater flexibility and control.
60% of organisations believe that enhanced organisational security results from multi-factor authentication (1).
Activate your VPN at all times
Strong passwords and multi-factor authentication on the VPN reinforce security to guarantee employee identity before any access attempt.
80% of data leaks are caused solely by weak, reused or hacked passwords (2).
Protect your workstation
Multi-factor authentication at the workstation level ensures that only legitimate employees can authenticate, even if the workstation is hacked.
30% of data leaks affect employees' workstations (2).
Share in total security
The password-sharing feature enables employees to share their logins, guaranteeing them access to the resources they need to do their jobs.
185 shared files are used on average in companies (3).
Limit passwords
Passwordless authentication eliminates the password from the login experience, and introduces a more transparent and secure way of working.
95% of IT security professionals believe that their company would do well to attach greater importance to password enforcement (1).
Take action against Shadow IT
A password manager gives employees a secure place to manage all their credentials, whether or not they are known to the IT department.
77% of employees use a third-party app in the cloud without the knowledge of the IT department (4).
Defeat phishing practices
Password management helps to reduce the risk of phishing by preventing passwords from being automatically entered on suspect sites.
On average, 26.5% of recipients of a malicious e-mail clicked on a link in the message (5).
Display a global view
Use detailed reports to monitor activity with information that allows you to modify access and authentication as required.
53% of companies consider monitoring user activity to be a priority for their IAM functions (1).
Given that the French have the legal right to ask their employers if they can work from home (a law introduced in 2017), and after an 8 week lockdown due to Covid-19, many are expected to take advantage of this law from now on. According to a recent survey, 71% of people who had never worked from home before Covid-19 now want to stay at home at least one day a week!
Identity management has never been so important. Identity management is where you focus on managing the end-user's identity rather than trying to manage all the devices they can use to access company data and applications. Leveraging identity management gives the business greater flexibility to provide employees with the tools they need to do their jobs, wherever they may be.
While security managers may see working from anywhere as a security risk, they should see it as a major opportunity to enable the business to adapt securely. Remote working, whether voluntary or enforced, is the catalyst security managers need to enable employees to be productive no matter where they connect from, and also to reduce exposure to business risks.
In conclusion, remote working is simplified and secured thanks to IAM. Nor is it an obstacle if the right strategy is put in place. Simple solutions exist, such as those listed above, to boost productivity and ensure business continuity in all circumstances.
Source:
1. The modern identity guide
2. 2019 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report
3. LastPass State of the Password Report 2019
4. NTT Com, "Shadow IT Survey", 2016
5. IBM State of the Phish Research 2019
Article translated from French