The corporate world is past the point of return when it comes to remote workforces, making cloud security best practices that much more important. Many organizations already have cloud security tools put in place, but remote network security isn’t something you can set and forget.
Cloud infrastructure upgrades are breaking many traditional norms found in standard network security architecture. For this article, you’re getting a direct look at cloud security best practices that you can utilize today and in the foreseeable future.
Cloud Security Challenges With a Remote Workforce
There are many upsides to working remotely, but for business owners, this opens up a whole new realm of network security risks. Employee access is just one of many focus areas that can lead to a broad number of potential weak points for cyber threats.
On top of that, remote workers mean access from numerous environments, challenging many norms in traditional security architecture, protocols, and compliance. While there isn’t a singular path to success with cloud security, following current best practices is where you should start.
Customize Cloud Security Best Practices to Your Business
It’s true that some advice should be applied to network architecture from a universal standpoint. Outside of that, it’s important you take best practices and find a way to integrate them with the needs of your business. This stands regardless of whether you’re handling things in-house or working with managed services.
It’s never a one-size-fits-all situation. From the hardware down to the service providers and your existing security setup, there are a lot of details to consider. The best practices below are proven to be helpful for any organization looking for better security for managing a remote workforce.
1. Multi-Factor Authentication (2FA)
This might seem rudimentary, as it’s something we use on personal devices all the time, but it carries a lot more weight than you might think. If you work in network security in any regard, this will seem like a no-brainer, but multi-factor authentication shouldn’t be overlooked.
It’s all about having layers in your network security architecture. However, security tools shouldn’t be seen as a blanket solution. While you don’t need every security tool on the market, there’s a lot more to cloud security than 2FA.
2. Secure Your Endpoints
Since you’re working with remote employees, there’s a good chance you have a long list of endpoints to worry about. More than anything, you’re looking at dealing with laptops, smartphones, and desktop computers.
Endpoint detection and response (EDR) is a popular solution to this, commonly found in next-gen firewall options. More specifically, SonicWall network security appliances and virtual solutions would be a leading example of excellent support for EDR.
3. Awareness Programs and Employee Protocols
What many businesses don’t consider are accidental or intentional breaches from the inside. If everyone is on the same page about network security, threat prevention, and incident response, there’s less room for error. Some of the key areas you can focus on for remote employee security training include phishing prevention, password management, and cloud application security.
4. Regular Audits and Monitoring
It’s easier than ever to keep an eye on every layer of your network security architecture. Remote workforce or not, modern firewalls like Palo Alto NGFWs and other relevant manufacturers have simplified audits and monitoring. A lot of this can be automated with today’s tech, including an immense amount of transparency in traffic logs and a lot more.
5. Ensuring Business Continuity
There are many building blocks that go into robust network security solutions, many of which are in place to support business continuity. This means minimizing the potential for downtime, which can be challenging without the right approach.
Details like access recovery protocols, backups, and cross-department communication are just as important for effective cloud security. Having eyes on every security layer is a team effort, and you need to be able to keep the business running, even in the event of a breach.
Final Thoughts
Although the topic of cloud security for remote employees can seem foreign to traditional standards, this promotes a time for positive change. Businesses working with a fully remote or hybrid workforce would benefit from everything mentioned in this article.
They’re also helpful tips when it comes to cloud security compliance, which is another angle modern businesses will want to focus on. For those looking to learn more about the topic and find the right cloud security solutions, get in touch with us at Firewalls for the comprehensive support you need.
