How to Keep Your Network Safe when Managing a Remote Team

People who manage large remote teams often have to deal with all sorts of different IT challenges.

19:51 03 January 2023

People who manage large remote teams often have to deal with all sorts of different IT challenges. Not only do they have to make sure that their systems remain safe from intruders, but they also need to protect themselves from inside threats.

Humans make mistakes, and even if you train your employees, one of them is bound to make a mistake at some point. This is why you’ll need to use a good combination of technical skills and proper training to keep your networks and data as safe as possible. Let’s take a look at some of the things you can do to ensure security when managing a remote team.

Work with a Solid Third-Party Team

If you are thinking of hiring an in-house team to manage your networks, know that you would probably be better served by a third-party team. First of all, IT teams have access to much better talent than the average small to medium company. Second, you don't need to have someone on your payroll simply for monitoring what's happening over your network.

IT professionals use software to track activity over networks and will get alerts when there are anomalies. They might need to directly grant access to users or allow access to different users during short time windows. They may need to come onsite to check on your systems too, but none of these things requires someone to be on-site 24/7 and get paid a salary.

This is why working with a third-party team makes so much more sense. They will usually charge a monthly price per user per month, and the costs will be nowhere near as high as if you kept someone on your payroll who would spend most of the time trying their best to look busy.

If outsourcing makes sense to you and you’d like to speak with a reputable team, consider contacting this IT company in London. They are one of the best IT support London teams and they'll be more than happy to answer all your questions.

Teach Your Employees How to Use a VPN

Many people aren't fully aware of the risks they are exposed to when they connect to public networks. So, teach your employees how to avoid these networks as much as they can, and how to use a VPN. Using a VPN will prevent sensitive information from getting intercepted and protect your employees' data and network if they're forced to use a public connection.

Teach Your Employees the Importance of Using Strong Passwords

You also have to teach your employees the importance of using a strong password and what a strong password should look like. A good password should be made of a combination of lower- and upper-case letters, numbers, and symbols. This makes them less vulnerable to password hackers. You can also teach your employees how to use a password manager and look for the safest option for them. Make it mandatory that they use the same manager, and that two-factor authentication is activated.

Teach them How to Sniff Out Social Engineering Tactics

While some hackers will use brute force tactics to get credentials and hack into networks, some will use manipulation tactics. They will make it seem as if they're someone in a position of authority and can be very convincing. So, you have to teach your employees how to do things like verifying the provenance of an email and being able to tell what a suspicious request looks like.

Anything that would require your employees to follow a link should be looked at with suspicion, even if it seems to be coming from a very important person, and you should ask that employees verify with the sender directly in case they receive an email requiring them to perform a specific action. This alone will allow you to significantly reduce the risks of an attack.

Provide Company Devices

Providing devices will make things like managing security updates much easier, so consider the option if you can. It will ensure that all devices have the same security features as well and will allow you to go for the safest devices you can afford. 

You'll also have a much easier time developing native apps, and your IT team will be able to spot suspicious activity much faster. They'll automatically be able to tell when a certain device shouldn't be over your network, for instance. This will not only allow them to stop attacks in their tracks, but it will also help when performing forensics.

These are all things that will help protect your company's data and your network when managing a large remote team. It would also be wise if you got a small foundation in cybersecurity so you can help manage some of the risks yourself and stay in the loop during IT discussions.