How to Limit Data Breaches in a Remote Workplace

When it comes to protecting digital workspaces from cybercrime, companies prioritize obtaining advanced tech stacks. But the truth is that they should focus on their employees to prevent potentially disastrous data breaches from happening. The numbers show that 80% of data breaches are caused by human error. And while these errors may be unintentional, they can have devastating effects on your business.

Sensitive company data became more vulnerable when most businesses switched to working remotely 2 years ago and company security measures like firewalls and blacklisted email addresses were gone. Since more than 50% of remote employees worked on their home computers, 71% of cybersecurity professionals found tracking activities on employees’ personal networks difficult, exposing them to countless cyberattacks and threats.

To be able to prevent these data breaches from compromising your sensitive information and potentially ruining relationships with clients affecting your business long-term, you need to answer the following questions:

• What is Data Breach?
• How It Can Affect Your Business?
• What are the Best Practices for Limiting Data Breaches?

Here you’ll find all the answers you need to run a productive and secure remote or hybrid workplace without worrying that your company, employees, or clients’ vulnerable data may leak.

What Is Data Breach In a Remote Workplace?

A data breach can have numerous names you may have already heard. Some may call it data leaks or data spills or cyber security breaches. Whatever you may call it, a data breach is a serious cybercrime that happens when an unauthorized person accesses vulnerable or confidential information.

Cybercriminals may target personal information like names, addresses, or medical histories. Also, employees’ accounts passwords and credentials may be jeopardized as well as client or target contact lists. Cyber attacks like phishing, man-in-the-middle, denial-of-service, and password attacks can be devastating to your business.

However, as already mentioned, 80% of data breaches stem from unintentional human error.  Your employees may accidentally CC the wrong person in a business-related email, or attach the wrong files. These mistakes are more likely to happen in remote work environments.

This is why you should consider investing in advanced remote management apps to keep track of every minute your employees spend at work using different tools and apps, including their email. You can use monitoring screenshots to identify potentially dangerous behaviors when it comes to cybersecurity and identify the source of harmful data leakage.

Detrimental Effects of Data Breach on Your Business

If you wonder how disastrous data breaches can be for your company look at these numbers. According to IBM statistics, the data breach has increased from $3.86 million in 2020. to $4.24 million. That’s almost a 10% increase. Remote work has a significant role in this cybercrime increase knowing that data breach costs in remote work environments are $1,05 million higher than the same costs in office-based companies.

Now when businesses worldwide are choosing between office-based and remote or hybrid workplaces, this statistic is very indicative. However, greater data breach risk shouldn’t be the reason to deny your employees the opportunity to work remotely. But you should invest in cyber security practices, and perhaps monitored services from someone like this managed it provider, that will prevent data leakage saving your company’s profit and brand reputation.

What Can You Do to Prevent Data Breaches?

Now that you’re fully aware of the devastating consequences that come with the data breach, you know that creating a secure remote workplace for your vulnerable and confidential data needs to be your top priority. Here are several practical steps to take and achieve this goal:

• Practice a zero-trust security model by demanding continuous account authorization, authentication, and validation before using any application or company data.
• Prioritize endpoint security by protecting endpoint devices like laptops, tablets, or smartphones containing sensitive data that employees can access.
• Devise clear and comprehensive data security policies, pointing out your expectations, and providing clear security guidelines.
• Insist on using strong passwords and multi-factor authentication to additionally protect sensitive company data.
• Be careful during the offboarding process making sure that you update all passwords, deny access to company accounts and files to offboarding employees, and retrieve company equipment and devices.