Do Part-Time Employees Require Full-Time Protection?

16 December 2024

Why do part-time employees need the same level of cybersecurity as my full-time workers? Many business owners often struggle with queries like this. When it comes to maintaining cyber protection in an organisation, it is easy to overlook part-time or remote workers. Especially if budget is a concern, it may get quite difficult to allocate proper resources. However, for cybercriminals, getting access through a part-time or full-time employee won’t make any difference, causing as much damage as they can. Let us break down why complete security is necessary for all, risks of lacking protection, including ways to maintain effective cybersecurity at a workplace.

Why Complete Protection Has Become a Necessity

Many business leaders make a common mistake, thinking part-time or remote workers don’t need strong security. But sadly, this is one of the biggest misconceptions that you have also fallen for. If your organisation doesn't follow proper, effective cyber protection measures, you may be exposed to some serious risks.

This is what your organisation needs to consider. Should the focus be on just some employees, like the full-time workers, but leave others unprotected? Or provide security passes only to full-time staff while ignoring part-time workers. What if only a few team members were trained in office safety, making the rest prone to cyber threats?

It is unlikely that any organisation would say ‘yes’ to all these questions. Yet, when it comes to cybersecurity, many businesses unknowingly make these exact mistakes. Needless to say, these gaps in security can actually create unnecessary risks for everyone, including data and financial loss. To address these vulnerabilities, business connectivity solutions must be implemented to ensure comprehensive protection across all areas of the business.

How Part-Time or Remote Workers Are Easy to Target

In 2024, UK businesses faced more than seven million cybercrimes, including around 116,000 non-phishing attacks. So, with the rise of cyberattacks, organisations lacking effective security measures can become an easy target.

When an employee, part-time or remote, works from their home and other locations and access company systems, they often rely on a few things. This includes:

• Personal devices lacking enterprise-level security
• Home networks with no or minimal safeguards
• Shared, unsecured Internet connections
• Different location changes as well as access points

Without proper business connectivity solutions and security measures like mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA), robust endpoint protection for devices, and a secure VPN, each of these situations can increase the likelihood of cyberattacks, no matter how often the user connects to your systems.

A single security breach can cause your company to lose the personal data of millions, leading to huge financial losses and affecting customer trust. This makes cybersecurity crucial for protecting businesses and individuals from spammers and cybercriminals. Similarly, businesses in Aylesbury can benefit from efficient IT Support in Aylesbury services to strengthen their networks and systems.

The Risk of Lacking Security for Part-Time Employees

Some businesses may feel confused or frustrated about having to invest in full-price security licenses, even for their part-time or freelance employees. It might seem like an unnecessary cost, as why should a company allocate the same resources for someone who works fewer hours than it does for a full-time employee?

However, you may be overlooking the benefits of having business connectivity solutions and complete protection for every single employee. And hackers or cybercriminals don’t consider whether you have part-time workers or full-time workers, breaking into your networks, installing malware or stealing files and money.

The inconsistent part-time work patterns, like irregular logins from different devices and locations, might even make these employees easy targets. Thus, your company may face several issues, in case of a cyberattack, such as

• Loss of sensitive company information
• Ransomware attacks, asking for money to resolve it
• Malware installation on all the systems
• Unauthorised access and data breaches
• Causing interruptions to your business operations
• Affecting customers’ trust

As you may see, the cost of not having proper cyber protection can be higher.

How To Maintain Effective Protection for Part-Time or Remote Workers

Let us now understand some effective solutions that can help you maintain cybersecurity, not just for your full-time employees, but part-time and remote workers as well.

Investing in Endpoint Protection Platforms

Endpoint Protection Platforms (EPP) are a powerful cybersecurity solution, working effectively for remote workers too. In today’s digital landscape, where laptops and mobile devices are essential for staying connected, EPP can provide proper safety against a wide range of cyber threats.

Making Supportive Arrangements

Supporting remote and flexible working arrangements is essential for robust cybersecurity, helping safeguard sensitive data. Businesses should provide secure access. In particular, they should focus on tools, such as VPNs and multi-factor authentication (MFA). They also need to equip remote employees with well-protected devices. In addition, suitable business connectivity solutions can help adapt to the growing needs of your organisation too.

Regular Training for All Workers

To ensure everyone understands cybersecurity risks and best practices, whether full-time or part-time, regular training is essential for all. Even minimal hours of work can expose businesses to threats, especially if employees are not aware of proper protocols.

Assess the Current Security Setup

By assessing your current security setup, you can identify potential weak points that your organisation may have. Moreover, you need to regularly review access controls, device protections, and network security, ensuring they meet the latest standards. For instance, seeking effective IT Support in Aylesbury can help resolve technical issues and provide the expertise needed to keep systems running smoothly for Aylesbury-based business.

Change Security Policies

As businesses switch to new technologies, tools, etc., it’s equally essential to keep security policies up-to-date. Regular updates ensure these policies are effective, and employees must be trained to understand and follow the latest guidelines. With the latest policies, this can help safeguard both data and systems.

Do Regular Audits

In addition to effectively maintaining cybersecurity in your organisation, conducting regular cybersecurity audits is another useful strategy to stay ahead of these potential threats. These audits set clear criteria, helping organisations and their teams assess whether they’re effectively protecting against the current risks or not.

Conclusion

In many ways, overlooking the part-time employees’ security can bring severe consequences, affecting the entire organisation’s performance and productivity. With competition at its peak, a business expecting to gain significant returns should not step back if it comes to investing in robust protection. By providing proper training, conducting regular audits, and making supportive arrangements, organisations can reduce cyberattack risks. So, it's important to allocate equal resources for all workers, building stronger defences and creating a safer workplace. For comprehensive protection, seeking IT support in Aylesbury can be a crucial step in safeguarding your business.