We are all talking about social distancing and how current events have completely transformed our lives. Videoconferencing is at an all-time high, with companies like Zoom showing a 90% increase in daily downloads. Along with large-scale remote work adoption, our kids are telecommuting to school; a lot of us are taking online doctor visits, and by now, most have experienced some sort of virtual social gathering. It’s only been a couple of weeks since social distancing began, but I’ve already joined virtual happy hours, birthday celebrations, and a baby shower.
We are quickly transitioning to a remote life and rightfully so, for our own and everyone else’s well-being. This new reality is making technology a bigger-than-ever bridge to keep us all connected with our jobs, families, friends, etc., and just like we are taking measures to stay healthy, we ought to acknowledge the security steps we can take to protect ourselves against identity theft.
What are some of the increased risks when large numbers of people are living their lives remotely? Let’s be real, work-from-home employees are more exposed without having the security of firewalls and company Wi-Fi networks, and unfortunately, hackers are already jumping at the opportunity to attack vulnerable users. With the unprecedented events we are experiencing, it is fundamental to think about protecting remote employees to make sure company assets and information are accessed securely to prevent data and economic losses.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) can be a great addition to your IT security practice as it provides secure access to essential applications.
Three main areas where MFA protects companies and remote employees:
- Prevents unauthorized users from accessing your computer
- Protects your employee logins
- Eliminates the risk of weak passwords causing a data breach
Enabling MFA will protect the remote access to the network and Cloud applications against identity theft, using your own phone as another authentication factor.
Here are important features to look for when shopping for MFA solutions:
- Make sure your authentication method supports main use cases like SSO to Cloud Applications, employee PC and server logins, and remote access
- Look for a solution that allows you to use your mobile phone as an authentication factor. You don’t want to have to depend on distributing hardware tokens to everyone at home right now
- Choose an authentication method that protects computer logins, including Windows and macOS
- Make sure it supports the most reliable, high performance and secure VPN method like IKEv2
A powerful authentication solution should get you up and running quickly and provide a good balance between user security and productivity, so you can work confidently and worry-free.
Note: WatchGuard continues to serve our customers and partners, while supporting the needs of the communities in which we operate. Learn more about free services and resources available now for businesses and remote employees.