How to Manage Your Cybersecurity Remotely

A cybersecurity incident can lead to costly service disruption. Currently, hackers are focused on gaining access to company data in an unauthorized manner and manipulating operational technology while also causing physical damage to the essential industrial processes and systems.

Since more people are currently working remotely, businesses should focus more on protecting the company data when employees are working away from the central office.

Below are the recommended cybersecurity practices:

Providing Devices Meant for Work Only

Businesses should provide devices such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets for handling work-related tasks. The option to let employees use their devices may seem affordable and practical; however, it will be hard to clean up after a data breach.

By providing such devices to the employees, the company will ensure the right antivirus solution has been installed. The antivirus will offer protection against viruses, hackers, bots, and different online threats.

Strong Password Protections are Required

People usually use the same password for all their applications and devices. When a hacker gains access to a person's password, they'll access the other work applications.

It is advisable to use a password manager to create random and long passwords. The password managers usually store the passwords securely in an online "vault." The employees are only supposed to remember the password to the vault.

Segment Home Networks

When an employee works from home, they are not supposed to be using the same network as the home computers. The main issue is that the hackers may have gained access to the initial network using personal devices since they may have had security vulnerabilities.

Currently, homeowners have connected thermostats, televisions, smart speakers, and other devices to the internet, which means they are more prone to being hacked. Fortunately, routers can create a VLAN (virtual local area network) to separate the work devices from personal devices. The staff should be instructed on how to set up the virtual local area network (VLAN). An IT professional can also help with such processes.

For Public Wi-Fi Use a VPN

When working from an airport, coffee shop, or another public space offering wireless internet, you should use a VPN (Virtual Private Network). The technology helps to encrypt a person's data such that other network users cannot access it.

Training Employees to Be Vigilant

A huge number of breaches are caused by hackers who pose as reputable individuals such as vendors or bank representatives. To gain the trust of the employees, the hackers convince the staff to hand in sensitive information. Therefore, the employees should be trained to be vigilant when they are asked to provide sensitive information. The team should also not click on emails that contain illegitimate links. Workplace devices should also be password protected when they are not being used.

Organizations such as the USCG (U.S. Coast Guard) have been planning and assessing different cybersecurity vulnerabilities under the MTSA (Maritime Transportation Security Act) regulations for OCS (Outer Continental Shelf) facilities.

Applying a Cyber Risk Framework

To effectively address the cybersecurity issue, it is advisable to consider all the aspects of the operations within a facility from installation to the operational stage. Businesses should also come up with recovery options in case there is a cybersecurity attack. NIST CSF focuses on Protect, Identify, Respond, Detect, and Recover.

Besides providing a framework to assess cybersecurity systems, NIST CSF follows different cyber maturity models to ensure the end-user gains access to a detailed report of the cyber system's present vulnerabilities. Businesses can make informed decisions depending on the present vulnerabilities. Keep in mind the NIST CSF categories and subcategories don't apply to each facility. The framework will ensure the functional areas are considered carefully.

Looking into Whether the Facility Security Plan Will Measure Up

When dealing with cybersecurity, it is advisable to understand the important actions in a facility that should be implemented to maintain and establish certain security levels, including understanding the individuals responsible for developing multiple security layers and managing cybersecurity programs. Detection measures also help to monitor the defenses when dealing with cybersecurity for offshore facilities.

Conclusion

The employees pose a huge threat since they don't understand the risks involved in instances whereby the company data should be secured. Some people usually work from coffee shops where they're using public Wi-Fi, and they even leave devices such as laptops lying around. As an employee, you should be more careful.