As of 2023, 16% of companies switched to remote work on a full-time basis, and 93% of employers are planning to perform job interviews remotely. People are more often looking for a job that provides an option to work remotely.
This opportunity allows many advantages: more time for personal tasks before work, saving the budget by not using your own or public transport and convenient work conditions (you can literally work on a bed when feeling unwell), etc.
Risks of working remotely
However, there are some downsides too. It is harder for employers to keep the team organized and responsible sometimes. Moreover, remote teams more often become a target of cyberattackers.
On average, a remote team struggles with 20 attacks per year. The reasons for that are slightly different if compared with office workers, who can isolate their collaboration environment by working in a local network.
Remote teams are more vulnerable because they often use personal devices for work, and it is easier for attackers because they can learn faster and better about the person, their behavior, and their habits. This information can be used for phishing, malware distribution, and sensitive data breaches.
How to reduce the risks of information loss when working remotely?
To prevent teams from potentially dangerous actions, 60% of companies deploy tracking software.
Indeed, this measure can help employers to keep the team more focused.
However, it is still not enough. It is important to educate a team on how to be more attentive over the internet, what are possible threats, and how to recognize them. For example, place guides and helpful instructions on the corporate internal forum (knowledge base).
It is also reasonable to switch from unreliable cloud services to self-hosted software that is designed for professional business tasks and provides better control tools for access control. Being able to manage every aspect of remote work including messages, file storage, rights, and limitations is the only way to keep data safe when working remotely.