A Safe and Secure Distant Workplace

How to have a safe and secure distant workplace? Here are 5 good habits to practice when working with a distant assistant for your business or personal endeavors.

1. Have a backup

Backups protect you from losing any important information or files. There are a variety of things for which you may consider having one. They include images, documents, videos, audio recordings, blog posts, and your online database.

Working with a distant assistant may require you to share these things from time to time. In the process, especially when you do not have an organized set up just yet, things could get lost in between.

What you can do is:

• Use a cloud storage like Dropbox and Google Drive
• Use an external hard drive
• Download and install a backup plugin for your website (should you have one)

This is also helpful in cases of a security breach when somebody or something gets pass your logins and obtains these items without your permission.

2. Protect accounts with a passwords manager

How do you share your passwords with your distant assistant? How safe and secure is your way of doing it and the tools you use for storage?

Providing passwords on a document, email, or chat might not be as secure as you think. It can also be inconvenient when you have to go to a specific file or folder everytime you need to log in to a website.

But worry no more! There are passwords managers where you can store all your passwords in one place. One such example is LastPass.

Just go to LastPass.com and download the software for free. Afterwards, install it on your web browser and register for a free account. You may also upgrade to a premium for more features.

Other things you can do with a passwords manager:

• Enable multi-factor authentication
• Create strong passwords
• Create secured notes

Logins to websites, email accounts, or even to your online wallet like PayPal can be stored in your passwords manager.

Anytime you want to log in to a specific account, just log in to your LastPass or passwords manager and look for that website. Click on that and it will directly show you the login page with your credential already filled in.

For sharing your passwords, you have the option to either reveal the password to the recipient or hide it. Just click on that account you wish to share and type in your distant assistant’s email address. Your VA will then receive that in her email account and will be invited to register to LastPass as well.

3. Be vigilant of threats

There is a wide range of security threats online. Among which are spam, phishing, computer worm, and denial-of-service attack. And for the upcoming year, SophosLabs predicts the domination of ransomware.

Ransomware is a malware that seizes your computer system and asks for a ransom in order for you to get it back.

You can never tell who the next victim will be. It could be or your distant assistant. To maintain a safe and secure distant workplace, it is essential to be aware of the places you visit online or the things you download.

Before clicking on links, consider where it came from and what it is asking you to do. Always be vigilant.

4. Educate your distant assistant

As a business owner, you can give time to teach your distant assistant about the importance of having a safe and secure distant workplace. Educate her about your company’s culture, values, identity, and ideals.

She represents your company that is why it is necessary that she embodies what you believe and promote.

Here are some things you can do to assist her in learning the things she needs:

• Create a regular schedule where you can orient her about the company, her role, and her tasks.
• Train her with the software your company uses including its ins and outs.
• Equip her with training that could be available online.
• Delegate tasks gradually, enough for her to chew and swallow what she learns from the training. Don’t bombard her with tasks that she can hardly follow.
• Break huge tasks into bite-sized portions. Give 1-2 weeks’ time for her to absorb everything.
• Communicate with her regularly and follow up how she’s doing. Don’t leave her immediately.
• Once you see that she’s already picked up what you taught her, you can lessen the number of times you meet with her. However, keep your lines open as she might still need your help anytime.

If you don’t invest time in educating your distant assistant, there are a number of risks your business can encounter.

Your distant assistant may become inconsistent with how she delivers her tasks. She may also cause miscommunication with your clients because she doesn’t fully understand everything about your company. And when it comes to the safety and security of your work together, she could expose your business to threats.

Helping your distant assistant get on board and equipping her with the information she needs are not a waste of time. Instead, they are great investments for the future.

5. Update and upgrade your software

What you might not know is that outdated software does not just create incompatibility issues but it can also leave your system vulnerable to attacks.

What you can do:

• Update any outdated software in your system whenever a new release is available
• Or, upgrade it to an available premium if your budget allows

If you have a website, you can check for outdated plugins and other suspicious items in your database. Also, delete any spam comments you have.

Installing a reliable anti-virus is also a smart choice for you to keep a safe and secure distant workplace.

Do you know other ideas for A Safe and Secure Distant Workplace? Feel free to share your thoughts with others in the comments below!

Other Articles You May Like:

• The Key Benefits of Hiring a Distant Assistant
• 5 Online Tools to Streamline Your Business
• How Having a Website Benefits Your Business

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