Email Security for Working Remotely


We have seen a dramatic rise in the number of companies and individuals that are working from home in these recent weeks due to the outbreak of COVID-19 or the Coronavirus and the impact it has had on the global workforce. The technical industries are finding that they need to support this suggested defense strategy for dealing with the outbreak. One major strategy to fight the pandemic is "Work from home" and that involves the risk of leakage of confidential business information when communicating via email or other means.

Email Digital Signature is an effective tool to encrypt the email content and establish the identity of the sender of the email.

Secure Internet Connectivity

Working in or out of the office involves receiving and sending lots of emails including some business confidential messages. The connectivity available at our home or other private places is not as secure as in our office because offices are equipped with many security instruments like hardware firewalls etc. which are not available at our home.

One of the biggest issues that employees face is how they are able to connect to the office network securely. Whether this is a direct connection or over a Virtual Private Network (VPN) all of your employees will need to know what they need to do in order to be in compliance with your company’s policies.

Use of Email Signature and Security Guidelines

Some basic guidelines on how to secure your email communication when working remotely are pointed out here. The following recommendations and industry best practices should be followed:
Use Email Digital Signature Certificate on your email sending client like Outlook or Windows Mail.
Always sign your emails before sending them.
Also, enable email encryption when you sign with the digital signature.
Connect to Secure Corporate Network Connection if Available.

Changing Working Environment

A secure working environment is essential for safe and confidential communication. It includes not only the safety of your network but also the security of devices involved in the process. The devices must be properly installed with SSL security certificates and the mailing apps must be set up to use email signing certificates or Personal Authentication certificate.

Securing the Remote Office Communication

There are a growing number of technical workers that are creating or employing their own office environment in their homes. Whether this is because they have to in order to work or if they have chosen to do so, the remote office has become the norm in the time of the pandemic. Providing a secure and protected work environment may seem to be a challenge, but it can be done.

Easy Steps for Better Online Security

Designated location to work within the home
Computer systems/printers networked
Privacy guards for monitors if working on sensitive information
Securing computers to a desk (lock and cable system)
Restrict access to the “work area”
Employ “IT Security Best Practices”
Locking the screen when away from the system
Changing the password as required
Accessing the corporate network via VPN when needed
All of these can help to secure your work environment and help to reduce possible threats that you may face on your home network.

What to do?

While there may seem to be little that can be done with an employee that doesn’t come into the office to work, there is a lot that can still be done to secure their work environment at home. Also, extending the secure work perimeter needs to happen, and supporting the end-user remotely should be encouraged as much as possible. These small changes can help to facilitate a more secure work environment and provides good “security hygiene” for when and if employees ever return to the corporate office environment.