The last few months have been hectic to say the least. A global pandemic has forced us to reconsider our office norms, when working from home became a necessity rather than a rare occurrence – prior to the pandemic only 1.3% of job postings on ZipRecruiter specified working from home.
The numbers vary but it’s estimated upwards of 50% of the knowledge-based workforce is working from home right now. Tech workers have had to scramble to adjust their security measures to cover employees on their home networks. In some cases, it still hasn’t been enough (Hacking against corporations surges as employees take computers home – Reuters.)
Now, as many cities and states begin to open, you may be wondering if it’s time to get back to the office. Here’s our steps for doing it smartly and safely.
- Evaluating devices that have been used at home thoroughly before introducing them back to the work network. Whether it’s their office device or a home device they normally use at work, you want to make sure it won’t function as a Trojan horse to your organization, inviting malware and/or viruses into your office.
- Make sure these devices are also updated with any software patches and updates that may have been missed while working from home. You want to make sure they have been fully patched when they return to your network.
- Consider requesting that everyone update their credentials and re-enforcing any efforts into enabling 2 Factor Authentication(2FA). Employees working from home may have let their work machines be used by family members, or otherwise have left these devices unattended in areas where they may have been accessed by others.
When returning to work we think it’s a good idea to also have a fresh start when it comes to passwords and other credentials, and if you haven’t been already consider requiring 2FA on work devices and work accounts.
- Finally, we’ll all have to consider germs going forward and for the considerable future. It’s a good idea to have a plan in place for disinfecting these devices safely and consistently.
This doesn’t cover everything necessary for returning to work safely, but it’s my hope it gives you a place to start when it comes to the technology side of things.
Whether you’re returning to work or are still working from home, Valley Techlogic can assist you with these topics and more. Feel free to reach out, our brilliant tech team would be happy to assist you.
This article was powered by Valley TechLogic, an IT provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/valleytechlogic.
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