Road Warriors – Keeping systems and data safe and secure while working remote #2

 The Connectivity Tier - Protecting Your Network

Telecommuters, teleworkers and road warriors usually require the same level of access to resources and information as those back at the office. Whether we talk about connecting to the organization network from an Internet Café, a handheld device, mobile phone, home desktop or company laptop, the approach should consider three factors: users, policies and technology.

Users should be aware that ensuring the security of their systems and the integrity of the corporate network is their responsibility too.

A decent policy should provide a clear definition of the current set of procedures for establishing a connection to the corporate network, while also specifying the access level for each user and the type of content that can be accessed, downloaded and uploaded.

Also, it should cover details about the security solution (antimalware, firewall, antispam, antiphishing or integrated defensive suite) that the organization adopted and the role that the user has in maintaining it as up-to-date as possible to prevent the corporate network from being compromised via e-threats.

In terms of technology, when establishing the connection with the organization's network the following 10 tips could be useful for preventing unwanted' access to business resources.

#1 Always make sure your antimalware and firewall are appropriately configured and turned on.

#2 Make sure you have disabled any files, folders and printers sharing.

#3 Do not install any program or application that might require resource sharing without the permission of your system and/or network administrator.

#4 Do not store within your laptop files containing user names, passwords, PINs or any other sensitive data which may grant access to your organization's network or resources.

#5 Refrain from employing a public unencrypted Wi-Fi access. If more reliable connections are not available, at least you should appeal to a combination of Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), anonymizers, as well as software but also hardware appliances that can provide encryption.

#6 When you are not using your Wi-Fi, turn it off to avoid attackers' potential intrusion.

#7 Ideally, you should use an encryption method which prevents file access as well as data interception. Ideally, a Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL /TLS) protocol could provide enough security and data integrity for the Web-based communications over the Internet, such as the Web-based corporate e-mail.

#8 If you need access to the e-mail client, organization's database or other resources stored on the corporate network, you should employ an Internet Protocol Security Virtual Private Network (IP Sec VPN), which creates a secure tunnel and encrypts all digital traffic between the laptop and the network.

#9 Avoid typing sensitive personal information (such as user names and passwords, social security number, bank account or credit card numbers) and refrain from any on-line transactions from a computer in a public Internet Café, via unsecured Wi-Fi connections or using a system that is not protected by a reliable security and encryption solution.

#10 Avoid using your business laptop for personal purposes.