Remember when remote work was a rare perk, then the majority of how employees worked? Even with back to the office mandates becoming more common, remote work is here to stay. Your team is logging in from coffee shops, home offices, and maybe even a beach somewhere (lucky them). But while flexibility is great for business, it’s also a goldmine for cybercriminals.

A dispersed workforce means more endpoints, more vulnerabilities, and more chances for a single mistake to cause big damage. So, how do you keep your business secure when your team is everywhere? Here’s your no-BS guide to securing remote work:

Lock Down Logins: MFA or Bust

If you do one thing for remote security, make it multi-factor authentication (MFA). Seriously. Passwords alone are a joke—they get reused, guessed, stolen, or found on the dark web faster than you can say “data breach.”

What to do:

• Enforce MFA on everything—email, cloud apps, VPNs, financial accounts.
• Use app-based authentication (Google Authenticator, Duo) over text-message codes.
• Consider hardware security keys for extra-sensitive accounts.

Without MFA, your remote employees are one phishing email away from handing over the keys to the kingdom. Don’t let that happen.

Zero Trust: Verify Everything

You know who loves remote work? Hackers. Why? Because they can pretend to be anyone, from anywhere—your IT guy, your CEO, even you.

A Zero Trust approach assumes no device, login, or request is automatically trustworthy—everything gets verified, every time.

What to do:

• Use conditional access rules—only allow logins from approved devices or locations.
• Flag suspicious behavior (like logins from across the globe at 2 AM).
• Train employees to verify payment requests (because “urgent” wire transfers are a hacker’s favorite).

Secure the Home Office (Because It’s Also Your Office)

Your employees’ home networks aren’t secure by default. If their WiFi password is still “admin123,” you’ve got a problem.

What to do:

• Require company VPN use for all work-related access.
• Provide security training on WiFi settings, router updates, and smart home devices.
• If employees handle sensitive data, issue pre-configured work devices.

You wouldn’t run your business on a random café’s public WiFi. So don’t let your employees do it either.

Patch the Human Firewall

Your best (and weakest) security layer? Your people. Remote employees are prime targets for phishing, social engineering, and Business Email Compromise scams—because attackers know they’re isolated, busy, and more likely to fall for a well-timed fake email.

What to do:

• Run regular phishing tests—because clicking is believing.
• Teach employees to verify requests via a second channel (like a phone call).
• Encourage a “pause and verify” culture instead of knee-jerk reactions to urgent requests.

Training isn’t a one-and-done thing—it needs to be ongoing, engaging, and tailored to real-world threats.

Device Control: Your Data, Your Rules

Remote work makes bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies tricky. Personal laptops and phones are riddled with security gaps—outdated software, sketchy apps, and who-knows-what-else lurking on them.

What to do:

• Issue company-managed devices when possible.
• Require device encryption and remote-wipe capabilities.
• Use endpoint security to monitor for malware, unauthorized access, and risky behavior.

If employees are using personal devices for work, make sure they meet security standards—or you’re just waiting for a breach.

Final Thoughts: Remote Doesn’t Have to Mean Risky

Remote work isn’t going anywhere, and neither are the cyber threats that come with it. The good news? A few smart moves can make a world of difference.

By securing logins, verifying everything, locking down home offices, training employees, and controlling devices, you turn your workforce into a security asset—not a liability.

Want help locking it all down? Let’s talk.