Security Concerns to Consider Amid Re-Opening

During this unprecedented time in our country, many companies are under strain due to the changing conditions in their workplace. Unemployment rates have now surpassed twenty percent, meaning many companies are now operating with much less staff than they were a couple of months ago. How many people are now taking on roles and performing functions that are new to them? To make matters worse, add the fact that people are probably working from home, which may also be new to them.

Just humor me for a minute… let’s pretend it’s February 1st – Coronavirus exists but it has not truly affected us the way it would on April 1st. You are a company of 100 people that used telework sparingly, and it was only limited to a few people. You had a VPN, but only a minimal number of licenses and honestly, most employees did not know how to connect to it anyway. You had a mix of desktops and laptops and only half the laptop users were used to bringing them home.

To comply with the stay at home orders issued by most states, many companies had to adjust on the fly, whether the infrastructure was in place and there was a plan for it or not.

These are a few of the adjustments I have seen:

• All workforces issued computers so employees could work from home
• Allowing the use of personal computers
• Employees connecting to home or public networks
• Escalated permissions and access to coincide with additional responsibility

This pandemic is going to inevitably end. As of now, some states have even started re-opening. When your state re-opens and all your employees return to the office, what are they bringing back with them besides their computer? We have seen an increase in phishing and social engineering attacks. Has one of your employees fallen victim to this during the period of telecommuting? Here are a few recommendations for your company to implement when you welcome your employees back:

• Complete a vulnerability scan of all systems
• Ensure patches are up to date
• Complete a full inventory to make sure all issued equipment has returned with employees
• Complete an access review to ensure any privileges or access that was escalated during this time is restored to normal
• Update your business continuity plan to reflect any changes or lessons learned during COVID-19

Everyone has a lot on their plate right now between fears associated with the Coronavirus, personal financial situations, and the condition of our beloved country’s economy. Not to mention the fact that our kids are now being homeschooled without a timetable to return to school. Just because the country starts to re-open does not mean the fear subsides and everything is back to normal overnight!

As we begin moving to allow workers to transition back into the workplace from home, security considerations must be taken into account to ensure the safety of your organization, employees, systems, and data! Contact us today to learn more and discuss your unique IT security and compliance concerns amid the current threat landscape.