Beginning this week, many companies asked their workforces to work remotely, including SMBs, a segment that saw a 424% increase in cyberattacks in 2018. But SMBs’ normal cybersecurity defense systems likely can’t protect their newly remote workforces against malicious actors, when they struggle even in normal times to offer sufficient protection.
While concerns are rightfully focused on the health and well-being of citizens, SMBs cannot forget to protect the cybersecurity of their businesses during these volatile times. This is an opportune time for Managed Service Providers (MSPs), which handle outsourced IT activities for companies, to step up and assist SMBs who now face greater cybersecurity risks as the crisis continues to unfold:
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Home network: With employees reliant on home networks, MSPs can help SMB leaders determine and implement policies to address VPN needs, secure file sharing, consistent digital communications channels, potential network capacity and security issues, and network monitoring gaps.
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Shadow IT: While at home, employees may use personal devices to access corporate files that don’t have appropriate security tools and maintenance schedules in place — opening up security holes that hackers can penetrate.
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Backup and data protection: When employees are not on the corporate network, they may be tempted to save their work to local or personal devices. MSPs can work with SMBs to develop and implement a remote backup policy so company data and work is both backed up and secure.
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Help Desk: Inevitably, in cases where users must adapt to a different style of working, IT-related questions and problems arise. These end users need responsive and reliable resources to help them remain productive.
For more information, feel free to visit www.kaseya.com
