Adapting To The COVID-19 Work Environment: Why Training Your Employees Can Save Your Company.

In recent times, the occurrence of COVID-19 has disrupted many organization’s day-to-day activities. The urgency of the matter to keep employees and their families’ safety, the idea of work from was inevitable. Employees are not sitting at their desks and working on company devices using internal networks; in most cases, they use their personal devices available to them at home. The stress of keeping company data safe from scammers that are always watching and ready to take advantage of any opening is unimaginable, especially in industries in which people are more reliant. They wait for moments of weakness when employees’ guards are down and launch their attacks.

Lack of technical knowledge is one of the issues that leads to potential data leakage. Knowing that employees’ are not highly technical, understanding all the ins and outs of security can be overwhelming. It is important that they understand the limits and not misuse technology as it might lead them to fall into a trap. Training employees’ is one way to minimize risk. It is imperative to understand that blaming or giving up on their abilities to help keep company data secure is the employer’s responsibility. We should find solutions that will be as simple and effective for them to use with as little training as possible.

The other issue is the lack of proper protocols and processes that cannot be enforced easily. It might be either the security policy lack details or does not exist. Employees are used to certain kinds of tools to facilitate their work, and chances are they are not all available when they are working from home. Downloading the free or pirated versions of productivity tools, install extensions or plug-ins on their browsers, not using a VPN, not having strong passwords on their personal devices, etc. leads to great vulnerabilities. People don’t know if they are doing wrong unless they are told it is wrong. You cannot hold them accountable for something they don’t know. Lack of proper knowledge delivery and security is the company's weakness, not the individual, which leads us to our third point.

Lack of cybersecurity awareness training can lead to a major gap between employees who may be used to working on the technologies and devices versus those who are totally clueless. These pieces of training must be all-inclusive and easily understandable. Introducing them with new tools to facilitate the work from home can be overwhelming, and the speed of learning is not the same for all. Failing to train and create awareness for employees can cause a security weak spot for the company. After all, it takes one employee to jeopardize the entirety of the company.

Phone scams are also one of the major issues as most people are extroverts, tend to get bored staying at home for too long. They alleviate their boredom by spending most of their time on social media as an attempt to socialize with others. The fun Facebook quizzes can collect a lot of personal data or company information, especially if they use company devices. Companies must have strict policies for prohibiting the use of social media or unsecured webpages on company devices. Even though they are using their personal devices, it is important to have end-point device protection.

Working from home introduces many more security risks for companies and employees. It creates the perfect environment for phishing scams. The urgency to find out about the pandemic or fear of missing out is a great way to lure people. It is important to teach employees to be on high alert for COVID-19 related emails. Also, provide employees with information on how the company will communicate with them regarding COVID-19 or any other information.