6 Network Security Tips for Businesses During and After COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be a crisis not only to individuals but also to the enterprise world. Governments in various jurisdictions have been advising business owners to consider alternative workplaces for their employees to keep them safe. Working from home has become inevitable for many organisations.

The introduction of remote locations to work from means expanding your corporate network, which comes with many security challenges. With this in mind, how can your SMB safely overcome the adversity of COVID-19 and remain relevant? Let’s look at the likely problems and solutions.

What Working Remotely Means for Organisations

Many IT specialists advise against working remotely for fear of exposing the organisation to non-enterprise environments. However, it’s a necessary evil that has a pivotal role in business continuity during this COVID-19 period. More staff are working from remote locations, thereby increasing the number of connections back to the office.

Baiting scams and phishing attacks are on the rise, and the perpetrators have become smarter. Hackers create bogus sites and emails that lure users into revealing sensitive information, thereby compromising their organisation’s data security.

Amid this coronavirus crisis, organisations can beat these network security concerns in the following ways.

1. Business Continuity Planning

As part of business continuity planning, the IT team needs to upgrade firewalls to ensure that employees connect to the corporate network securely through Virtual Private Network (VPN). Organisations also require new equipment such as network switches and wireless access points when building redundant sites or remote working places to separate employees. This provides an opportunity to implement the latest technology such as ZYXEL WiFi 6 Access Point, resulting in smooth, consistent, and fast connections every time.

2. Phishing Simulation

There’s a need to evaluate how employees respond to deceptive emails. A phishing simulation software enables the IT team to send phishing tests and see how workers react. The staff can then teach employees how to recognise and report malicious emails instead of opening them.

Go Nimbus provides Cyber Security Awareness Training (CSAT) through KnowBe4, a SaaS security platform that coordinates your threat response and simulates phishing attacks to make your team more prepared. This SaaS is available at various subscription levels to meet your organisation’s specific needs.

3. Creating Strong Passwords

When working with computerised systems, no device should have a default or easy-to-guess password. A strong password should be alphanumeric, and it should contain some special characters – the longer, the better. This applies to routers if employees use home WiFi. They should also change passwords frequently.

4. Sending Messages Over VPNs

For added security, send or access sensitive information exclusively over VPN. Enhance protection by deactivating Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) and disabling remote access on your router. All devices should have automatic updates enabled.

5. Using a Robust Firewall

Allowing employees to connect back to the organisation via VPN amounts to poking holes on your firewall. While the firewall will still be screening through data packets, there’s a possibility of bypassing some security policies. The ZYXEL Nebula Cloud Managed Firewall not only provides security but also eases monitoring, enabling the IT team to respond to threats on time. This robust firewall also allows for easy VPN configuration and replication from site to site, which is helpful for mass deployment.

VPN throughput will be a critical consideration when choosing a firewall. It refers to the amount of data transmittable over a given period. You’ll also want to factor the number of users, security infrastructure, and the availability and visibility of your applications and resources.

6. Sandboxing

In network security, a sandbox is a location where your firewall isolates potentially malicious files while it scrutinises them. The ZYXEL Cloud Sandboxing Firewall protects your organisation from hidden threats that would otherwise penetrate your system and affect IT resources.

Go Nimbus Networking Solutions

Go Nimbus supplies high-quality cloud-managed networking solutions to enable you to replicate configuration from site to site. Managing devices from the cloud is both efficient and cost-effective. ZYXEL is the only brand offering a full-stack cloud-based solution (WiFi, switch, and gateway) alongside free cloud license and limited lifetime license.