I have been on numerous calls in recent weeks and have decided to share some of the pandemic-related risks many of us are encountering and a checklist of suggested mitigations. Here are eight risks many users are experiencing. In many cases companies have solutions in place to lessen these risks so it’s important to speak with your Information Technology (IT) leadership. By partnering with IT, you will ensure that you are not adding risk or instability to the overall operation during an already challenging time in your business.
- Outbreaks can occur in buildings. Some landlords have closed buildings because someone is being tested; others have closed in compliance with local or state mandates/guidelines/requirements.
- Be prepared to trigger remote/work from home plans with little notice.
- Employees are encountering increased levels of stress due to uncertain times.
- Find healthy ways to relieve stress and add structure to your day which has been turned upside down.
- Remember to show appreciation to each other and don’t underestimate the power of saying “thank you.”
- If you need to work remotely, remember to leverage the systems/channels:
- Virtual private networks (VPN) on laptop computers for an in-office experience while out of the office.
- Software-based phones with headsets for customer facing roles on laptops.
- Software-based phones running in mobile apps for users without laptops.
- Platforms that support working from personal devices like Citrix, Microsoft RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol), and Webmail.
- Multi factor authentication
- The public internet for home use is shared, thus performance issues and outages can be expected for remote workers.
- Have remote workers work in shifts, focusing on client service during business hours and back office after hours.
- Provide WiFi hotspots for key roles as the cell networks have separate Points of Presence for the internet.
- Dedicated internet bandwidth to your company may get congested.
- Use burstable connections—these are in many contracts with internet providers and are usually available on demand.
- WAN (Wide Area Network) /MPLS (Multi Protocol Label Switching) becomes congested for multisite networks.
- Utilize VPN user preferences to change gateways to reroute remote users directly to the datacenter that contains your applications.
- Try not to rely on the WAN to connect internet users in state 1 to an internet VPN gateway in State 2 to get to the data center in State 1. Have the VPN prefer the State 1 VPN gateway.
- Customer services may be impacted for processes that can’t be done remotely like receiving/sending postal mail, check/document printing.
- Communicate with customers that there may be delays of service required to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
- Clean and disinfect mail rooms and printshops.
- Run the mail room as a clean room wearing hazardous material suits.
- Beware of increases in cyberattacks.
- Keep following your processes so you don’t introduce risk into your infrastructure and systems.
- Increase security awareness by communicating the increased volume of phishing attempts targeting COVID-19 as a subject.
Adopt these mitigations to help you proactively avoid instability in your businesses and optimize the efficiency of your workforce during this time of change. Following your processes and not succumbing to quick fixes will help you continue to manage your cyber risk at appropriate levels for your company/practice.
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