Are Your Employees Accessing Your Business Network On Personal Devices? 

 The popularity of personal devices probably means that most employees are accessing your business network on personal devices. This is true whether you deploy a Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) policy or not. 

Ultimately, smartphones make businesses vulnerable. This is particularly the case for BYOD firms that rely on individual employees to update security patches themselves.

Work-from-home employees accessing business networks on a personal mobile device can also open gateways for hackers. 

 Whilst remote working and BYOD does pose IT teams more security challenges, the good news is there are effective strategies you can implement to reduce the risk of suffering a data breach.

Wi-Fi Network Strategy 

 A Wi-Fi security strategy should be a top priority. Start by securing all endpoints and prevent unsecured and unauthorised mobile devices from accessing your network. 

Configure Cloud User Permissions

 Cloud software applications typically have security features. Take full advantage of these. One solution that is often overlooked (because IT professionals do not know they are there) is user permissions. 

Network administrators have the option to set up user access. This is a feature that only allows recognised devices to access a particular application, file or document. 

When an unrecognised or unauthorised device attempts to access an area of your network that it does not have permission for, the end-user is blocked and thrown out of the application. 

In other words, a hacker attempting to infiltrate your business network will be stopped in their tracks in real time. 

Implement A Virtual Desktop

 A virtual desktop provides your employees with a secure environment that enables them to get on with their work without any risk of compromising your business network.

An example of a virtual desktop is Microsoft Virtual Desktop (MVD) which mimics your actual business network. Your employees work in the virtual environment without actually giving them access to your business network. 

Your business data is stored in an encrypted centralised location where it is kept safe. If an employee’s device is compromised the hacker wouldn’t be able to access your business network. They would be confined to the virtual environment only, thus thwarting all ransomware attempts. 

Invest in Patch Management

 As mentioned above, some firms rely on their employees to perform security updates whenever a software company releases an update. Even for small firms, this is not a great policy on a couple of levels. 

First of all, you are placing the security of your business network in the hands of employees who are not responsible for managing your IT infrastructure. 

Secondly, patch management can be annoying for employees because it is disruptive. If you are using multiple apps, you will need to perform more security updates which eat into schedules and hampers productivity. 

Patch management solutions remove the burden and frustration from your employees. As soon as a tech company releases a new security patch every device registered on your business network is updated automatically — even from remote areas.

Given that 60% of companies that suffer a data breach go out of business within six months, allowing your employees to access your business network on personal devices without taking precautions is a dangerous game to play.