The spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) has taken root across the country. More and more locations are starting to report cases and this number continues to raise alarm bells throughout the medical profession, and unsurprisingly, across businesses everywhere. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) labeled coronavirus as a pandemic, and since then, virtually all companies and individuals are dealing with an unfamiliar, unsettling situation. For those who need to stay operational, there’s only one choice: working from home. But not every business is prepared for this.

The Importance of a Business Continuity Strategy That Accounts for Disasters Like This…

Many of the largest global enterprises to local small businesses have begun to exercise and test business continuity strategies if their offices and factories are shut down due to the spread of this virus – forcing staff members to work remotely to keep the business functioning. A business continuity strategy must account for all sorts of disasters, including pandemics like COVID-19 that can leave you uncertain of when you’ll be back in the office again.

What should a business continuity strategy include? The following is essential if your employees need to work from home:

1. Remote access solutions that let your teamwork from home with access to data, applications, and systems.
2. Communication solutions that enable anytime, anywhere communication via the internet from any device or location.
3. Cybersecurity solutions for office and home computers that keep you safe against cybercriminals leveraging this major headline as a mechanism of social engineering.
4. Emergency procedures that outline how to recover equipment, emergency contact information for employees, and more.
5. Virtual private network (VPN) technology to ensure your employees are using a secure, encrypted connection at home to access corporate information.

Systems MUST be in place for employees working from home as they’re using their computers to access corporate resources. It’s up to you to make sure those computers are clean from viruses or other security issues.

The Cybersecurity Tips Your Team Needs to be Aware Of Before They Get Started…

Here are a few quick cybersecurity tips to share with your team while they’re working from home:

• Use caution with email attachments and links. Avoid clicking anything from an unknown sender, and if the sender is known, double check the domain as you hover over the email address to verify it’s truly them. You can always call them first to check.
• Look for any suspicious email addresses, spelling and grammatical errors, and signs of urgency and/or information that seems too good to be true. If it’s suspicious, don’t click on it or open it.
• Run antivirus software regularly. If you can, upgrade your employees to an enterprise-grade antivirus software on their home desktops and laptops for the duration of the time, they’re working from home.
• Use trusted sources, such as the WHO, CDC, and other legitimate government websites, to stay up-to-date on the count of cases, symptoms, and additional relevant information.
• Never reveal any personal, company or financial information via email or phone conversation. You should have a secure file-sharing solution in place for employees who do work with sensitive information.

Even if you’re using the technologies listed above to help enable a secure, productive remote workforce, it’s still important to take even more precautions than usual. This is because home devices tend to be less secure, and right now, cybercriminals are taking advantage of the pandemic to launch even more attacks than usual.

Contact Initial.IT for Help Setting Up Your Business Continuity Strategy Right Away…

Our team is more than familiar with creating proven contingency plans for situations like this. You don’t have to handle this difficult situation alone. We can help you get prepared and make sure your employees are accessing corporate information safely and securely. Initial.IT has already helped many of our client’s transition to a remote workplace. Many of our clients were prepared well ahead of time.

Call {phone} to Get Started Now. Let’s Weather This Storm Together.