How to Secure Your Remote Workforce

According to the Census Bureau, the number of people who work from home full-time has more than trippled. Before 2019, about 5.7 percent of workers worked primarily from home. From 2019 to 2021, that number increased to 17.9 percent. According to Forbes, in 2023, about 12 percent of employees will work full-time from home, and another 28 percent work a hybrid model. This means roughly 40 percent of employees work from home all or some of the time.

The Importance of Cybersecurity

When we talk about cyber threats and cyber security, we're talking about minimizing the risk of experiencing data breaches, malware, viruses, phishing, denial-of-service attacks, SQL injections, zero-day exploits, and DNS tunneling.

According to CISA, 1 in 3 home computers are infected with malicious software. More than 65 percent of Americans who connected to the Internet received a scam offer. Over 600,000 accounts are hacked daily, and 1 in 5 people lost money due to an impostor scam. With the increasing prevalence of cyber crimes, securing your systems's never been more important, especially if you rely partially or fully on a remote workforce.

Cybersecurity Measures

When you have a fully or partially remote workforce, it's important to implement some security measures, including:

• Implementing VPNs – Ensure your employees are logging into your company system using a secure VPN. A VPN is a Virtual Private Network, and it's used to mask the IP addresses of the connected machine.
• Using Multi-Factor Authentication – Installing 2-factor authentication is the first step in ensuring your employees are accessing your systems.
• Using Secure Communication Tools – Ensure your email, direct messages, and other communication systems are secure and encrypted. This helps stop cyber criminals from intercepting your business communications.
• Monitoring Remote Workers – Monitoring remote workers is a touchy subject, especially since employees want to work remotely because they can get more done with fewer distractions. However, from a security standpoint, you need to know what your employees are accessing online and how they're accessing that information. Additionally, monitoring your employees can help ensure they're working the hours they say they're working.
• Creating a Security Policy – Create a security policy covering all the best Internet use and data security policies. Then, send that information to your employees.
• Using the Right Technology – An increasing number of employers are trying to save costs by letting employees use personal equipment. The truth is that those devices may not be as secure as the ones you send your employees. This is because your IT department can ensure that all the necessary software is on the devices, all the devices are updated, and that certain safeguards are in place. You can't easily do that if the employee owns the machine.
• Reducing the Risk of Internal Threats – A company's biggest threat is its employees. Depending on which research study you use, an estimated 88 to 95 percent of data breaches are caused by human error. To reduce the human error factor, you should create an employee training program that specifically addresses common and not-so-common mistakes that employees make that could compromise your business's cyber security.

Employee Education and Awareness

The truth of the matter is that your employees are the biggest deterrent and risk to your company's cybersecurity. To combat this problem, you'll want to create a robust training program that addresses common threats and how they happen. Then, you want to ensure you instill the best practices for cybersecurity in your remote workforce.

Role of Payroll Security

Payroll is another area where you need to be mindful of your security. After all, the same things you need to complete your payroll are the same items a fraudster needs to commit identity theft. Along with identity theft, you need to consider several other types of payroll fraud, including:

• Failing to pay back a payroll advance.
• Employees letting other employees clock them in and out.
• Ghost employees on your payroll that either don't exist or a terminated employee that remains on payroll.
• Timesheet padding, where employees add hours to their workdays.
• False work expense reports.

To ensure that your employees are being paid correctly and working the hours they say they are working, you can implement robust time-keeping software that has safety and security in mind, like the time and attendance software at Exact Payroll.

Our time and attendance software includes enhanced scheduling, single-point support, GEO fence punching, exception alerts, and punch attestations, among other features. These features can help you prevent some of the most common forms of time theft.

How Exact Payroll Can Help

At Exact Payroll, we understand the importance of remote workforce security. This is why we offer a suite of programs and services to businesses. We can help you securely and accurately manage your time and attendance, payroll, and employee benefits. Our human resources services can help you manage your documents, PTO, and the development of your employee handbook, which can help keep your employees abreast of your security policies.

To learn more about our payroll and HR services for your remote workforce, contact us at 866-987-9898.