No company or business can thrive without technology support. Almost every other company, be it big or small, heavily relies on tech and digital devices to carry out their important business and day-to-day operations.
It is almost impossible to imagine our personal and professional lives without a stable internet connection that works round the clock, let alone our smartphones, laptops, and other digital gadgets. When you carry your smartphone or another digital device on you all the time, you can work from any part of the world and at any time.
With the onset of COVID-19, the majority of the companies had to ask their staff workers to work remotely. Even though working from home had its downsides, the companies couldn’t help but think of deploying systems to remotely monitor the activity on the employees’ devices.
Under normal conditions, most companies use employee monitoring solutions to monitor their employees’ devices during working hours. They install a spy phone app on the company-owned smartphone before handing it over to their employee. They also deploy monitoring software on the company-owned computer devices and GPS trackers on the company-owned vehicles that the employees use.
With technology, the internet, and smart devices becoming an integral part of our lives, we should not forget to secure and protect the company’s devices and the data stored on these devices. Information stored on those devices can be prone to security risks and data breaches and we must try to follow security measures to protect them as much as we can.
Whether you want your employees to bring in their own devices or use company-owned devices at work, this article will help you understand the most prevalent cyber and security risks that halt your business operations and help you prepare for the worst times, while doing your best to protect and secure your company’s data and devices.
Think Hard Before You Buy
Every company must think hard before buying any piece of hardware or software for their business. Before purchasing any hardware or software for your company, you must know what you will be using it for. It is useless to purchase an older or outdated computer device/smartphone that no longer runs the operating systems or apps you need to use daily. Outdated devices may save you money but they can slow down your business operations and become easily attacked by malware and any other virus.
Therefore, it is strongly recommended to opt for devices that are up-to-date and economical for your company’s budget. At the same time, you need to figure out how well you can use these devices and keep them protected from internet risks.
Get Rid of Unwanted Software/Apps
You may come across smartphones and tablets that have their own set of preinstalled apps. Some of those apps may even be useless and do not add any value to your business operations. By removing such redundant apps, you are not only freeing up storage space on your device but also removing potential risks for cyberattacks.
Often, system apps are replaced by the apps you download on the device but the system apps are still there and can be subjected to attack as they are used frequently. When you remove the preinstalled apps from the device, you are more likely to keep your devices safe and secure.
Create and Implement a Policy for Apps and Tools
No business works without the use of the internet and digital devices. If your employees are using devices to carry out their tasks then it is important to create and implement a policy that prevents them from installing whatever they like on their devices.
Before handing over a device to your employee, make sure to install everything they would need to get their work done. From web browsers to word processors to company-specific apps, all of them should be already installed on the device before an employee starts using it.
Apart from that, you should put up an admin password on all the company devices so your employee cannot download anything else on the device without your permission and knowledge. By doing this, you can prevent any potential virus and malware from spreading through your company’s device and network.
Keep Track of Your Company’s Devices
Another important way to secure your company’s device from unwanted business threats and cyberattacks is deploying monitoring software on it. This monitoring software can help you keep track of your employee’s device and know what they are doing on it.
For instance, some companies install the best hidden spy apps for Android or iPhone on the employee smartphone to keep a check of all the activity that takes place on the device. On the other hand, monitoring and tracking apps also help you in situations when a company’s smartphone or laptop is lost or stolen.
It is important to have a monitoring solution in place that allows companies to even remotely monitor their employees’ devices. Even if an employee is working from home, the employer should be able to keep an eye on their activity and monitor all their incoming and outgoing work emails, web browsing history, etc.
Choose Paid over Free Apps
All businesses should prefer using paid apps instead of free apps. We do not necessarily mean that free apps are not safe. They are safe but the only problem is that when you use a free version for too long, it can pose threat to your company’s device as it holds a lot of your important business data.
If you want to keep your company’s device safe from an unwanted cyberattack, we recommend you purchase the premium version of the app instead of continuing to use the free version. The paid version of the app will provide you with a lot more features as well as offer you added security, keeping your device safe from potential online threats.
Learn to Handle BYOD
Asking employees to follow the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy in the workplace means you need to adopt several security measures to protect all the devices being used at work. Employers should blacklist all the apps that may have a high level of malware risks and make sure the employees do not use them under any circumstances.
All the workforce needs to be trained about handling and preventing the company’s data and devices from cyberattacks and they should know how to identify the potential risks. At the same time, the employers should find a way to secure the company’s data that is being accessed from the employees’ devices, whether it stays in the cloud or the company’s servers.