{"id":60117,"date":"2022-10-19T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/?p=60117"},"modified":"2022-10-20T10:55:44","modified_gmt":"2022-10-20T14:55:44","slug":"policies-for-remote-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/blog\/policies-for-remote-workers","title":{"rendered":"Why You Need Specific Policies for Remote Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and this year\u2019s theme is See Yourself in Cyber, which focuses on the individual\u2019s role in cybersecurity. While cybersecurity can feel complex and inaccessible to the average person, the reality is that everyone has a role to play in security, from executives to the IT team to end users. This month, the 探花大神 blog will focus on helping you empower everyone in your organization to do their part regarding cybersecurity. Tune in throughout the month for more cybersecurity content written specifically for IT professionals and MSPs.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Remote work is here to stay, and if your organization allows it (or is planning to), it\u2019s essential to create specific policies to manage remote users and devices. However, two frightening statistics show that, in 2021: <\/p>\n\n\n\n While security training is just one part of a comprehensive remote work policy, the fact that it\u2019s lacking to this degree tells us the scope of the problem is likely much broader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remote work adds a new layer of difficulty<\/a> to both user and device management, and it\u2019s clear that this problem is not one that can be overlooked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are distinct differences between on-site and remote employees, which need to be addressed by developing a remote work policy. Because of these differences, not all existing policies for on-site workers translate smoothly to a remote work environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The goals of a policy specifically written for remote users is to 1) protect your organization and employees by outlining security and compliance policies, and 2) provide guidelines for staying productive while working from home. Without a remote work policy in place, your organization is left vulnerable to many internal and external threats that can cause significant damage to the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, you\u2019ll want to develop an extensive list that covers everything<\/em> that\u2019s relevant to remote or hybrid work. From there, start by examining the differences between remote and in-office employees that create the need for separate remote work policies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This makes it easier to create a policy<\/a> that fits your organization\u2019s specific needs and addresses those distinct differences between employee types.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To determine which existing policies can be extended to remote workers, make a list of the main challenges that remote workers face that need to be addressed. Compared to their in-office counterparts, remote users:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n To maintain morale, productivity, and security, establish policies that specifically cater to the needs that accompany these challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remote work is typically more flexible than traditional in-office work due to the circumstances surrounding it. Remote workers can wake up later and still be online when they\u2019re supposed to be, they often have the flexibility to work in a way that improves their productivity, and it\u2019s easier for them to work non-traditional hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In-office employees are usually expected in the office at a certain time (such as 9 a.m.), they have an hour-long lunch break with maybe a few other 10-15 minute breaks, and then they leave at 6 p.m (or earlier). <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, remote workers can benefit from more flexible hours in some situations. They don\u2019t have a commute, less time is spent getting ready in the morning, they may work better in bursts, or they might be more productive early in the morning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One option for employers is to keep everything standard for remote and in-office employees by simply extending existing general working hours to remote employees. Another option that better addresses this difference is to let employees work on whatever schedule they like, as long as they\u2019re online during certain expected hours, and productivity doesn\u2019t suffer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Allowing employees to work remotely doesn\u2019t just mean they\u2019ll work from home; they can work from anywhere that they want. This leads to employees trying to connect to public networks, use personal devices, and use shared devices among other insecure practices to get work done. These events are what make implementing remote user and device security policies so important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some existing security policies can be extended to remote employees, such as password complexity rules, password change rules, least privilege access<\/a>, and the use of multi-factor authentication<\/a> (MFA). All employees can benefit from these basic security features, but not all of your existing security policies will bridge the differences between remote and on-site employees so easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, in-office users are easy to monitor. They connect to the office Wi-Fi and use more company-owned devices (COD) than bring your own\/personal devices (BYOD), so there\u2019s little chance for network breaches or lost or stolen devices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To mitigate the opposite issue for remote workers, you can use an identity and access management (IAM) tool<\/a> to install different security protocols on remote devices, such as a lock screen policy and conditional access policies<\/a>. Conditional access policies prevent employees from accessing work related resources from unknown or public networks, hotspots, unknown devices, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe Security Problem with Remote Workers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The Solution: Extend Existing Policies: <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
General Work Policies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Risk Management Policies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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