Businesses that embrace work from home policies might notice advantages in terms of productivity. But there could be a major security disadvantage as well. How much can your business depend on the coffee shop WiFi protection or the networks your employees maintain in their own homes?
For a better guarantee of a secure and well-running network, for any mainframe application access you should consider employing a browser emulator that always runs over a secure SSL connection on any mobile device. This can provide a secure online environment no matter where your employees are connecting.
Kurt Marko is hardly the only person to have rung the alarm bells about unencrypted public connections. However, his recent piece for Forbes discusses how company networks employ a Virtual Private Network (VPN) that makes it more difficult for the personal information you exchange to be captured by malevolent parties.
An article for PC Tech provides a perfect example of one situation where many work not only away from their office but away from their home country: the World Cup. Citing information from a study conducted by Kaspersky Lab, the source noted that more than a quarter of São Paolo's open networks are unencrypted and could be a hazard for anyone unfamiliar with the area.
The same article also referred to charging stations that might be another, less well-known, threat to mobile users in that country. Something as innocuous as charging a device could leave information vulnerable without any trace of suspicious activity.
All of this is to say that your business should pursue a path of IT modernization that helps employees work efficiently and comfortably—without putting information in the hands of strangers. There are many different opportunities for this to happen outside of your secure network, so the way you choose to modernize shouldn't be reckless.