You may know someone who works from home, or even you work from home yourself. This was not the case just a few years ago, the normal was physical offices. But with the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen an unprecedented increase in the adoption of remote work.
This means that companies were expanding the reach of their resources to let their employees access all the information they need from home, which presented security challenges.
Remote access security and VPN usage became the standard in the industry to overcome these challenges, but some businesses still need expertise. Let’s see how to secure remote workforces through VPN and other remote access security practices.
Understanding VPNs and Remote Access
VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a tool that allows you to connect to the Internet through a different IP address than your local IP. The main goal of VPN services is to reduce traceability and increase online anonymity and privacy. Although it has both individual and commercial use, companies usually use it to create private networks to protect their business resources from unauthorized users.
Since purposes for VPN use change depending on the case, types of VPNs vary too. Traditional VPN solutions which relied heavily on hardware were designed to provide a secure connection to a specific location; such as the headquarters of the company.
The emergence of the remote work model and the need for remote access also revolutionized the VPN services on the market. Cloud-based VPN services dominated the market after remote work became the new normal for most industries.
These solutions offer secure remote access through a private tunnel between the server and the client, who is the end-user. Remote employees generally use public Wi-Fi or personal devices, so modern VPN solutions connect these users to business resources through this private tunnel which encrypts all the communication to protect the network.
Such solutions became known as enterprise VPN tools, and are offered by online vendors; making them hardware and maintenance-free. Through encryption and access authorization, these tools mitigate the risk of unverified access to sensitive information stored in company networks.
Another benefit of them is the expertise of the online vendors, so it is virtually the best choice for smaller businesses that want to have a remote workforce and do not have a dedicated IT security team.
Best Practices for VPN and Securing Remote Access
Even though remote access security has probably been discussed a thousand times, there are still some things to know and adopt to maximize your security and eliminate potential threats. Securing a remote workforce has its challenges, but fear not because we gathered all the tips you need.
1-) Strong authentication and encryption
Authentication is ten times more important when you have a remote workforce. You do not get to see your team members so you need to have a robust authentication system to ensure they are indeed authorized, users. A great way to resolve this issue is using MFA (Multi-factor authentication) which adds layers to this process by asking for biometrics, OTPs, or simply a verification code.
Another important thing is encryption when it comes to remote work security. Employees will sometimes use public Wi-Fi connections which are questionable in terms of security. By using an enterprise VPN, you’ll be able to encrypt all the communication between the client and the server through your private tunnel, making it impossible for malicious users to track.
2-) Enforce frequent software updates
Employees might not be aware of the importance of software updates if they are not well-trained in cybersecurity. What you need to do is audit these updates and remind them if necessary.
Software updates include significant security improvements and the elimination of known vulnerabilities. When you consider that companies previously suffered from cyber attacks due to outdated software, you can understand why this is indeed crucial.
If you are constantly updating the software you use and making sure the employees do the same, you’ll be instantly protecting your networks better since criminals will not be able to exploit these known vulnerabilities.
3-) Monitor and audit remote access
Visibility will need to be improved if you have a remote workforce. A network where all employees access whatever they want is inherently insecure, and you need to be able to tell when, how, and why they are accessing a piece of information.
If you have the budget, having an IT team that monitors and audit remote access frequently would be your best bet. The employees should have boundaries on which part of the network they are authorized so the network is more sanitized. Internal threats usually root from unnecessary access permission so monitoring it mitigates this risk.
4-) Use a reputable VPN provider
Your vendor of choice will become vital when you are trying to secure a remote workforce. In essence, they are the ones offering the security tools and the expertise they have, so you need to choose the best one for your company.
One way to evaluate potential VPN vendors is to look at their history; do they have any known cases where their clients suffered from an attack due to their fault? What is the encryption protocol they are using, and do they have encryption at rest? Lastly, do they have a no-log policy?
There are so many companies online offering these solutions, so you need to be really careful when making up your mind. In addition to the security side, it would be a huge plus if they have 7/24 customer support.
5-) Conduct penetration tests
Penetration testing (aka pen-test) is a way of evaluating the security of a private network through simulated attacks done by authorized IT personnel. The main purpose of these attacks is to detect vulnerabilities before they are detected by actual cyber criminals.
When you are using a VPN solution to secure remote access, regularly conducting these tests will give valuable insights into the potential vulnerabilities of your system and address them before an attack happens. In big enterprises, pen tests are usually a scheduled, regular process that needs to be executed to improve overall security.
Combining VPN and Remote Access Security
We live in a world where more and more employees are seeking work-from-home jobs. Even employers are preferring this type of work over more traditional, office-based employees. One great question about remote work is how to ensure cybersecurity when people are connecting to private resources from thousands of miles away.
The simple answer to that question is the use of cloud-based enterprise VPN solutions that can secure the connection between users and the private network no matter where they are. However, this is a new thing for most businesses, so adopting the proven practices above will immediately boost the security of your network.