Cybersecurity Is More Urgent Than Ever In Teleworking Environment

Coronavirus

March 25, 2020

Cybersecurity Is More Urgent Than Ever In Teleworking Environment

By Dan Hilton

With companies and government agencies working remotely, often from home, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued a bulletin for federal agencies to be more vigilant in their cybersecurity. This is guidance any firm with employees working outside the office should follow.

According to the bulletin: “An organization should assume that external facilities, networks, and devices contain hostile threats that will attempt to gain access to the organization’s data and resources. 

“Organizations should assume that malicious parties will gain control of telework client devices and attempt to recover sensitive data from them or leverage the devices to gain access to the enterprise network.”

NIST offers four recommendations to improve teleworking efficiency and security:

• Plan telework-related security policies and controls based on the assumption that external environments contain hostile threats.
• Develop a telework security policy that defines telework, remote access, and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) requirements.
• Ensure that remote access servers are secured effectively and configured to enforce telework security policies.
• Secure organization-controlled telework client devices against common threats, and maintain their security regularly.

Read more here. The full NIST bulletin can be found here. 

Dan Hilton is ACEC’s Director for Procurement Advocacy and International Affairs.

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