The Need for Remote Work Security & Monitoring: Is your IT Team Covered?

Looking for a way to boost your Remote Work Security? — Tune in then

As the world has been adopting remote work at an unprecedented rate since the pandemic started almost two years ago (Wow!),  it seems that this ‘new normal’ way of doing things may be staying with us for a while.

With that, IT teams have been facing brand new challenges induced by what Darren Murph, Head of Remote at GitLab, describes as “crisis-driven work-from-home”. Which brings in increasing speculations about the long-term behavioural changes such shift to remote work will have on how businesses operate in the post-pandemic era.

THE TOP 3 IT CHALLENGES OF REMOTE WORK

1. The COST of remote devices
2. The SECURITY of remote devices 
3. Reliable MONITORING of these remote devices.

These challenges, to some extent, have been addressed long ago. In fact, schools were the first entities to realise the answer (since most of their ‘workers’ spend a considerable amount of time doing ‘homework’ anyway). 

Such realisation was initially driven by both, cost and management challenges. Long faced with much smaller budgets than their corporate fellows, schools quickly adopted Chromebooks as the ideal remote work and in-house desktop devices. 

Chromebooks are relatively inexpensive, totally ‘remotely’ configurable, do not suffer from viruses and have a very low maintenance cost. As for fleet management, they’re field upgradable within seconds from any Admin desk.

Today, many leading enterprises are realizing this truth and moving many of their field fleets to Chromebooks or Chromeboxes.

How to Ensure Remote Work Security and Monitoring?

To make this move, All applications in use must be accessed via a web page. 

This is already true for the vast majority of applications we use today. Whether it’s Microsoft Office, Salesforce, Oracle Database, Email or even proprietary back end systems. In fact, this shift to a web based UI has been happening since the year 2000.

The idea of using software like native Outlook (as opposed to web outlook) and other so-called ‘desktop’ applications is not only expensive, but also a major security load. 

A. Achieve the Same level of Control and Safety Remote Workers Get on the Corporate LAN

The Google Chrome environment provides both the device maintenance and device security environment required for safe remote working.

Now there’s one more element required to seal the deal, User behaviour security — which is now also possible using Chrome and its extensions’ environment. 

This gives you the same level (if not higher) of control and safety remote users would get on the corporate LAN. 

B. Deploy User Behaviour Security in the Google Chrome Environment for Remote Workers

One powerful and easy way to achieve this is using products like GAT Shield from GAT Labs.

This forced extension monitors user behaviour in real time, alerting both, users and Admins, of any dangerous use of sensitive data. That includes things like company credit card numbers on eBay, typing the company’s bank account numbers on sites that don’t belong to the company’s bank, etc.

GAT Shield also reports (and alerts) on other very important details, including device location, time reporting showing how remote workers use their time, as well as the technical state of the device. 

In fact, this can even lift the level of security above the LAN level by constantly verifying that the user working behind the device is actually the user whose account is logged ins which can be achieved via GAT’s ActiveID.

By continually building mathematical models of how your users type, ActiveID can identify an impostor within minutes. Once identified, appropriate action can be taken via alerting the Admin, logging out the compromised account and capturing a picture of the impostor.

That’s just a glimpse on the powerful remote work security and monitoring capabilities GAT’s powerful suite of products can bring your Google Chrome environment.

Remote Work could become a Permanent Trend…

‘’The move to remote work might be driven by unfortunate necessity, but the change will remain by virtue of long term benefit and, ironically, increased security.’’ — Robert Baker, CEO at GAT Labs.