With remote work continuing to grow in popularity, it’s becoming common practice in different industries across the globe. The pandemic has also led organisations to allow workers to remain virtual. While this boosts work-life balance, productivity, and flexibility, it comes with downsides too.

In our current digital landscape, data security in a virtual work environment has become an even greater cause for concern. The necessity of hiring Filipino remote workers means organisations have to look towards more powerful and rigorous for maintaining data privacy in a remote work setting.

Protecting company data with offshore staff

Maybe you decided to hire remote staff in the Philippines recently. Perhaps you have employees working from home or going on trips often. Certainly, it’s harder to manage their security than it is with your on-site workers. Here are cybersecurity concerns you must be on the look out for:

Weak passwords

Your business may be using the strongest VPNs and firewalls to protect your data but human error remains an issue when your staff use weak passwords on their accounts. Hackers know that it’s easier to crack account passwords than to bypass sophisticated software.

Cyber criminals use different measures for cracking passwords, including compiling lists of commonly used passwords. They also write code to continuously attempt to hack an account by trying different combinations. Repeating passwords across business and personal accounts increases the risk of getting hacked too.

How to combat weak passwords

Establish a policy of: (1) using passphrases which combines random words, (2) banning personal information such as birthdays, and (3) disallowing repeat passwords for logins. Longer passwords are harder to crack, especially when they contain numbers, punctuation marks, and special characters. An example of a good passphrase may be ‘ch0c0l4t3 r&D Swi$$’.

Unsafe networks

Your company may have thought to secure the laptops and mobile phones of your workers but never considered how the networks they are using at home, in public spaces, or at co-working locations pose a risk to your data. For instance, they might not know how to update their home router software.

As with smartphones that don’t update their software, routers that aren’t updated neglect to have security gaps patched leading to data breaches in the future. Also, while your office might have a firewall for monitoring network traffic, home networks rarely consider blocking malicious activities.

How to combat unsafe networks

Make sure to inform your new hire VA in the Philippines to routinely update their router software whenever they’re available. They will also want to check if there are any encryption features that may be utilised. If your business has the budget for it, pay for a firewall for each of your new hire Filipino VA.

Phishing schemes

When your operations transitioned from onsite to offsite, your employees might become confused on how to keep working securely thereby falling prey to phishing schemes. This is when a person poses as a legitimate entity over email to trick victims into providing sensitive credentials or information.

Even when you have filters setup in your email inboxes, these messages sometimes still make it past them. Your staff then have a difficult time determining which messages are legit or not. It becomes a bigger issue when criminals perform identity fraud to steal corporate data.

How to combat phishing schemes

Teach your employees how to detect questionable emails that affect company cybersecurity through numerous training sessions. For a more comprehensive awareness program, ensure that you implement it with your new hire freelancer in the Philippines. Educating them from the get-go and continuing to teach them as they go along reduces the risk of them falling victim to phishing.

Unsafe file sharing

Though your organisation may be encrypting data while it’s within your network, you may not have thought of doing the same when transferring files from one place to another. Your team is sharing plenty of confidential information regularly, such as client details to payroll logins, after all.

You mustn’t risk having these information intercepted by a hacker in the midst of being transmitted to its recipient. Sensitive company data being leaked will lead to theft, ransomware threats, identity fraud, and even bigger issues.

How to combat unsafe sharing

See to it that your employees are using programs or tools that have encryption features. Microsoft Outlook, for instance, converts plain texts to scrambled ciphers so only the recipient with the key is able to decipher it. File-sharing platforms like OneDrive and Dropbox ensure that files are encrypted from end-to-end as well.

Personal device usage

When you hire a virtual assistant in the Philippines, it’s a given that they are providing their own equipment, be it the computer, smartphone, or printer they’re using. There are rare cases where an employer does provide equipment but they’re usually giving money rather than shipping the actual devices from headquarters.

Most people don’t think to encrypt their phones, especially for minor thing like voicemails. Any work done on their smartphones may be accessed by hackers still. The same goes for printers as they are capable of storing data too, making them rife with security gaps.

How to combat unsafe devices

Educate your staff on encryption for smartphones, printers, and other equipment they’re using for work. Like with awareness training on phishing, it’s crucial to educate your team members about device security risks the moment they start working for your organisation. Consider paying for anti-malware and anti-virus software for their devices too.

Hire an honest and trustworthy virtual assistant

There’s much to think about in terms of cybersecurity when you hire a Filipino virtual assistant or build an entire team of remote workers. Not only do you have to consider the data being shared amongst the team but also the digital practices of your employees when they’re off work.

One way to ease your worries even a little is to hire reliable offshore specialists with the help of Remote Workmate. You may rest assured of the trustworthiness of our Workmates because they are thoroughly vetted before being endorsed to you.