Even if your employees are predominantly back in the office, you can expect that there will be a desire amongst future workers that remote working is offered as an option.

Why is remote working a security risk?

Remote working presents a challenge for business security because remote work environments don’t often have the same safeguards that an office environment would. Your employees will not be protected by those layers of preventative security controls that you may have put in place previously. When computers are taken away from the office, new risks arise; data encryption, unsecured wireless connections and the potential loss or theft of devices and data.

The good news is that evidence shows that many businesses are aware of this. In fact, UK Google searches for ‘cyber defense’ went up by 126% between January and March 2020. That’s up 116% from March 2019. Additionally, searches for other cybersecurity-related terms such as ‘cybersecurity services’ also increased by 44%.

So, what can business owners enforce to ensure that remote working is as safe as possible – now and in the future?

Avoid public wifi

This is perhaps one to flag with your workforce when the cafes reopen, but this also applies to those who may do a little work on the train whilst commuting, for example. Public wifi introduces a significant security risk and should be avoided where possible. Public wifi is just that – public. Other people can access it and therefore, the risk increases of them being able to also access your computer.

If you or your employees are out and about and need an internet connection, then encourage them to use personal hotspots from their phones instead. Although web traffic will be unencrypted between the hotspot and its destination, using a hotspot does eliminate the risk of getting hacked by those using public wifi.

Stick to using work computers

Where possible, encourage your team to stick to using work computers to complete their work. Accessing work data on personal laptops is a risk unless these personal laptops have a secure wifi connection, a VPN, encrypted drives and anti-virus software. If not, a personal laptop may not be safe for work information, as it could be compromised by a third party much easier.

Even just checking and answering a few work emails on your personal laptop one evening once you’ve returned from work can be a risk – let alone if your team began working on a personal laptop 9-5 once they made the work-from-home switch.

Make use of encryption

When minimising the risk of remote working, encryption will be your business’s best friend. Think about all those emails you send that may contain sensitive data. What happens if that is intercepted by a third party? By encrypting the data attached to an email, it prevents anyone unintended from viewing the information.

You could also ask that your employees encrypt their home wifi network. For example, their wifi router may not have a very strong password to protect the settings and configuration. The default passwords tend to be weak. Could they change this to something stronger?

Password management

And speaking of passwords, if you and your team use simple or identical passwords across different accounts, this also puts your business at risk. Although it makes passwords easier to remember, it also makes passwords easier to guess. Perhaps now is the time to run a password audit?

Alphanumeric codes and the use of two-factor authentication should become mandatory to make passwords as complex as possible and to add an extra layer of protection. It’s also a good idea to use a password manager platform, such as LastPass. LastPass stores your passwords securely and also generates complex and strong new passwords for you. If team members need to share passwords with each other, LastPass allows a way to do this safely as opposed to through an email or instant messaging platform.

Educate your team to be security savvy

It’s no use one or two people on your team being passionate about keeping the business secure – it only takes one person to make a mistake or two and security can become compromised. Your team may have no idea of the risks they face when working outside of the office, so it is up to you as a business owner to educate them.

This should include simple policies around keeping personal use and work use as separate as possible, avoiding letting their friends, family and children use their work system, and educating them on security risks such as phishing scams.

Unfortunately, online scams have dramatically increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. Action Fraud reveals that there have been over 200 reports of coronavirus-related phishing scams. Perhaps you could create a quiz for your team and present them with real and scam emails, and see if they can correctly spot the difference. It’s vital that they understand what legitimate communication looks like, and false communication.

Use secure cloud-based services

Instead of storing confidential and sensitive data locally, use secure cloud-based services where possible. Not only do cloud-based services allow you to run your business more efficiently (particularly when your team is working remotely), but they also offer much better security. A cloud host’s full-time job is to carefully monitor security, making it much safer to keep critical business data offsite.

A staggering 94% of businesses saw an improvement in security after switching to cloud-based services, and 91% said that the cloud makes it easier to meet government compliance requirements. Cloud-based services are hot on encryption, making it as difficult as possible for hackers or anyone unauthorised to view your data.

However, it’s important not to wholeheartedly rely on your cloud-based services. What happens if they become compromised? They are not immune from cyberattacks or going into administration. You rely on their consistent connection and if that is lost, how would you continue to operate? Your data will still exist, but you may not have a contractual right to access it.

That’s where SaaS Escrow comes into play. SaaS Escrow protects your critical cloud-based and off-premise software in the event of your hosting provider going out of business. It allows you to access your data for at least three months of business continuity, so you can continue with business as usual.

Don’t be without this extra layer of protection for your business. Contact us to learn more about SaaS Escrow by calling 0800 456 1115.

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When things go wrong

Systems failures can and do happen, but for it to occur during your busiest period could be catastrophic. But what happens when your Saas service or host providers go out of business? Whether you have invested in bespoke software or software as a service you are going to need to protect your continuity to keep customer confidence. Loss of cloud-based technology such as Software as a Service (SaaS) can bring far more than technical hitches. You can also lose access to all business-critical data too. If your business operation is solely reliant on SaaS then you need to invest in AccessAssure.

Peace of mind with SaaS Escrow

SaaS escrow is a proactive agreement that protects end-users in the event that their service providers or host providers go into administration. LE&AS are SaaS experts and have developed AccessAssure with SaaS clients in mind. AccessAssure monitors the financial performance, of both the software provider and the hosting company. Should they appear to be in trouble or heading out of business, this will trigger a cascade of events to ensure continuity of service. Our dedicated legal team have worked to create an agreement to incorporate all parties involved in the SaaS service; the software vendor (licensor), the software user (licensee) and a third-party hosting provider. SaaS escrow is simply invaluable to clients using the cloud, especially during the busiest season of the year. Contact LE&AS today to find out more.

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Cloud Computing

Thanks to its affordability and instant access, cloud-computing continues to be the fastest growing method with which to run your business and invest in business-critical software. The unprecedented demand for cloud-based software, or Software as a Service (SaaS) over traditional installed software, has seen software developers and vendors rising to the challenge of building bigger, better and faster SaaS solutions for companies across the globe. Almost all standard software is now available through the cloud, with many more applications being designed solely for use within the Cloud.

Cloud Crisis

If you’ve got instant access to SaaS through the Cloud, you may think you are sitting pretty, but now is not the time to let your guard fall. Unlike traditional software that is delivered and licensed to an end user, SaaS applications are hosted on the vendor’s infrastructure, and, more importantly, so too is any business-critical data. The end user relies upon access to the hosted software and data via a link or application from the vendor. In the event that this link breaks, you lose access to your software and your critical data and your business could face potentially devastating consequences. As a SaaS user, you don’t have the same software escrow rights that an end user who has installed licensed software has, yet you still have the same needs to ultimately protect access to your software and maintain business continuity.

Cloud Cover

Vendors going out of business is not something that LE&AS can control, but our SaaS escrow agreement AccessAssure can alert you to the likelihood of such an event occurring in the near future. This patented software escrow agreement has been created with legal experts to include in-built trading trigger points. Should your host or software provider be in financial difficulty, these triggers will set off a cascade to begin a timely intervention ensuring continued access to your business-critical cloud-based software and data. Contact us about AccessAssure today then sit back, relax, and soak up the sun shine knowing that when it comes to your business-critical software and data you have got it covered.

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Technology: Software vs the Cloud

When you are dependent upon business-critical technology day in, day out, a software emergency is going to vastly affect your productivity, not to mention your profit margin. First and foremost, levels of insurance must be taken out against all physical products that are bought or hired for business use in order to protect or replace them in the event of an emergency. LE&AS Software Escrow is the perfect option to protect bespoke business software, where a copy of your software source code is delivered to you in the event of a software failure or if your providers cease trading. But how do we go about protecting cloud-based software?

Get ahead in the cloud

The rise in popularity of cloud-based services is huge and Software as a Service (SaaS) is the fastest way to access software to kick start your business or get ahead in your industry. Rather than investing in costly software development and/or hosting a physical version of the software on your own servers, SaaS allows you to have all the benefits of the service without the cost of developing and hosting it. In addition, developers and host providers often work seamlessly together to update your technology without interrupting your service, which is a great perk for the less technologically-minded amongst us. Of course, no SaaS provider is immune to threats from the outside world, and bugs, viruses and the turbulent world of business can quickly bring even the biggest business to its knees. As cloud computing and SaaS continues to grow and evolve, it is vital that you protect access to your virtual services should your providers go out of business, and this is where LE&AS steps in.

Stay in the cloud

We cannot prevent your cloud-based software from crashing any more than we can prevent the possibility of a business deal failing, however, the experts at LE&AS can help support your existing Disaster Recovery Plan with AccessAssure, our patented SaaS escrow service. This unique, proactive agreement monitors the financial performance of your hosting and software provider and will alert you should any inconsistencies be detected that may affect your provider’s ability to trade. At LE&AS, we believe that prevention is better than cure, so by detecting potential threats or difficulties early on, you can have the necessary conversations to clarify the situation. If your providers are unable to continue your cloud-based service provision, then AccessAssure will work to uphold access to your SaaS for up to three months to maintain business continuity, while helping you to transfer to a new host. So, what are you waiting for? Contact LE&AS today and make sure that you protect your virtual business software today.

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Any entrepreneur who has experienced data loss or loss of services will tell you just how devastating it can be to your business, and in severe cases, many companies simply did not recover. In a nutshell, if you lose access to your business-critical software data, your clients lose confidence and you lose profits. If the day to day running of your business relies heavily on SaaS, then data loss, interruption in data access or the dreaded ‘blank screen’ can render your operation obsolete, however, the team at LE&AS have developed AccessAssure SaaS Escrow to protect service continuity in your company.

What is SaaS Escrow?

Traditional escrow protects installed business critical software by holding the source code with a third-party agent, and releasing it as part of a disaster recovery plan in the event of software emergencies. However, protecting virtual, cloud-based services is a very different matter, and this is where SaaS Escrow comes in. SaaS escrow is a specific agreement that protects the users of cloud-based software when there is loss of service, or if the provider and/or host of their cloud-based critical software goes into administration. In SaaS emergencies where the cloud-based services are interrupted or cease altogether, a client with SaaS escrow would benefit from continued access to their business-critical cloud-based services until such a time as a new host/provider can be found.

Why AccessAssure?

As G-Cloud suppliers, LE&AS have an in-depth understanding of the needs of clients reliant on cloud-based services, and our legal teams have developed our SaaS escrow agreement AccessAssure specifically for this client base. AccessAssure is designed to incorporate all parties involved in the SaaS service; the software vendor (licensor), the software user (licensee) and a third-party hosting provider. AccessAssure is different to traditional escrow agreements in that it protects all parties against ‘blank screen syndrome’ and loss of service for cloud-based services where the end user does not hold any service source code or data on their own servers. This level of cover is simply invaluable to clients using the cloud, so don’t risk the downfall of your business; invest in AccessAssure SaaS Escrow today and protect your tomorrow.

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