What specific considerations are there when it comes to our IT team working remotely?
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Answered by Mark Hofman, Chief Technology Officer, CyberCX |
When it comes to maintaining business continuity while your staff are working remotely, one of the most important considerations is ensuring your IT team or help desk can continue functioning. They need to have sufficient remote access to be able to continue carrying out their essential tasks.
If your IT team is unable to work, your entire organisation can grind to a halt.
You must ensure they have remote access to networks, the ability to manage VPN systems, capacity to monitor traffic logs, update and roll-out patches, maintain email and a range of other systems.
One of the really important tasks for your IT team during this period will be to monitor your systems for unauthorised access and data flows. Given the risk that some staff may use insecure wi-fi networks, it’s essential your IT team maintains visibility so any anomalies or potential breaches can be identified quickly.
Your IT team will also need to coordinate closely with your remote working staff to ensure their technical needs are adequately addressed. They will need to check whether staff have access sufficient internet bandwidth. If necessary, staff may need to be provided with backup 4G internet dongles that can be used in the event they experience home internet outages. They may also need to verify with staff that their home wi-fi networks are sufficiently secure.
Your IT team will also need to ensure any personal computers or mobile devices used by staff are securely configured and updated with the latest patches.
We recommend that there are at least two secure paths into your organisation. One used by staff and IT alike, with a second one in case of an emergency.
View our 5 easy steps to improve your cyber resilience.
