Top Methods for Secure Remote Access

Quarantine-weary Americans have begun to return to travel again and are accessing networks to continue to work out of the office. While some people are also beginning to return to the office as vaccines for COVID-19 are now readily available, many in workforces are still continuing to work remotely. To keep your business network and data safe, ORAM Corporate Advisors recommends the following top methods for providing your employees with secure remote access.Virtual Private NetworkTo access your business network, your employees are using Wi-Fi. To do so securely, provide them with a virtual private network (VPN). A VPN is a primary remote access tool where a secure tunnel is created between an employee’s workstation afar and your corporate infrastructure. Your IT team or a third-party service provider such as ORAM Corporate Advisors can often install such programs remotely for your staff members.The VPN will allow your company’s staff to connect to a virtual desktop infrastructure, control a computer remotely in the office, or direct access to your file servers that are located at work. The way this works is that the VPN takes people with allocated access, those with a valid login and password, into a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). This means employees working from home or elsewhere can access everything they need on the network to complete their duties as if they were in the office.Without the use of a VPN, your employees would be using a Wi-Fi network that is unsecured or easy to hack. That means bad actors can spy on them, access sensitive information and unencrypted business data, and even get into your network where they can do real damage.Shared PlatformsAnother method for providing employees with secure remote access to business information is through the use of a shared platform. Some platforms that work well include Box.com, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, and SharePoint, another Microsoft product.Whatever platform your company chooses to utilize, ORAM recommends that any of these accounts should have at least a minimum of a strong password and multifactor authentication. For the best security, these should be used in tandem with a VPN.Privileged Access ManagementTo securely manage credentials for privileged accounts on a network, you can use privileged access management (PAM) software. This is ideal for privileged access or administrative accounts on any network. PAM tools can be used to secure, control, and monitor access to an organization’s resources.This type of technology uses advanced credential security, data access control, credential obfuscation, and user monitoring for continuous oversight which reduces threat risk. It also makes it easier for your IT managers to identify suspicious network activity. With PAM software, you can even limit what users can do in a network once they are logged in which is great for adhering to the concept of least privilege which also lowers the odds of a cyberattack or insider threat. Some of the PAM software that ORAM recommends include ARCON, BeyondTrust, and Centrify.Vendor Privileged Access ManagementWhile VPNs, shared platforms, and PAMs offer secure remote access for your employees, your vendors, contractors, and partners (external users) may also require access to your network. That’s where vendor privileged access management (VPAM) comes in.When it comes to external users, your company and IT managers have no control over the security best practices they implement. This creates a security risk to your business network. To address such risks, you can use VPAM software.While PAM software allows you to manage internal users, VPAM offers a terrific third-party privileged access management solution using multi-factor authentication for an extra layer of security. An effective VPAM solution will also continuously monitor external user activity including detailed tracking for optimal network and data security. Some of the VPAM software ORAM recommends include Synopsys, Okta, and BeyondTrust.Extra Security TipsIn addition to these remote access methods, be sure to check your legacy systems to ensure hardware and software are up to date and aren’t creating holes in your network security. You’ll want to take other security precautions as well such as pushing firewalls, antivirus, antimalware, and software program updates through regularly along with patches. Taking these steps regularly helps reduce the odds of a hack or loss of data.You’ll also want to monitor network access and data. BrightGauge is one of the tools ORAM recommends for data monitoring and management for remote teams. The great thing about this tool is that most of your existing programs from Autotask to QuickBooks can be migrated into a single pane to keep data organized and visible to all team members in real-time.Contact ORAM Corporate Advisors at (617) 933-5060 for more information on the best methods for secure remote access for your business. The call is free as is the initial consultation.