Secure remote work with Zero Trust principles: verify identity strongly (MFA), verify devices (compliance checks), protect data (encryption, DLP), secure connections (modern VPN or ZTNA), and monitor for threats. The perimeter is gone—security follows the user.
Quick answer: Secure remote work with Zero Trust principles: verify identity strongly (MFA), verify devices (compliance checks), protect data (encryption, DLP), secure connections (modern VPN or ZTNA), and monitor for threats. The perimeter is gone—security follows the user.
The New Reality
Remote and hybrid work is permanent. Your people work from:
- Home offices
- Coffee shops
- Client sites
- Co-working spaces
- Hotels
- Airports
- Anywhere with wifi
The Risk Landscape
Remote work risks:
- Unsecured home networks
- Shared devices
- Public wifi
- Physical shoulder surfing
- Distracted working environments
- IT support harder to deliver
- Social isolation (more susceptible to social engineering)
- Personal/work boundary blur
- VPN credentials
- Cloud account compromise
- Endpoint malware
- Phishing (harder to verify in remote context)
- Home router exploitation
Security Framework for Remote Work
1. Identity: Know who's accessing
Strong authentication:
- MFA on everything (no exceptions for "convenience")
- Phishing-resistant MFA where possible
- Conditional Access policies
- Risk-based authentication
- Detect risky sign-ins
- Monitor for credential theft
- Automated response to compromise
2. Device: Trust healthy devices only
Device management:
- Require managed devices for work
- Endpoint compliance policies
- Encryption enforced
- Current patching required
- EDR on all devices
- Conditional Access based on compliance
- Block non-compliant devices from sensitive data
- Quarantine compromised devices
- If allowed, separate work data (app protection)
- If not, enforce managed device requirement
- Clear policy either way
3. Connection: Secure the path
Modern options:
VPN:
- Traditional, well-understood
- Requires infrastructure
- Split tunnel vs full tunnel decision
- Can bottleneck bandwidth
- Application-level access (not network)
- Identity-based, not location-based
- Cloud-delivered
- More granular control
- For cloud-native apps
- Protected by identity and Conditional Access
- No VPN needed for Microsoft 365, etc.
4. Data: Protect information everywhere
Data Loss Prevention:
- Prevent sensitive data leaving approved channels
- Control what can be saved locally
- Restrict sharing with external parties
- Sensitivity labels
- Encryption follows data
- Rights management
- Watermarking for sensitive documents
- Cloud backup for endpoint data
- Microsoft 365 backup (Microsoft doesn't protect your data)
5. Monitoring: Detect threats everywhere
Extended visibility:
- EDR on all endpoints
- Cloud app monitoring
- Sign-in analytics
- User behaviour analytics
- Detect impossible travel
- Flag unusual access patterns
- Monitor for account takeover
6. User awareness: Train for remote context
Remote-specific training:
- Home network security basics
- Public wifi risks
- Physical security (screens, documents)
- Verifying unusual requests (can't walk to colleague's desk)
Quick Wins
Today:
- Enable MFA on all accounts (if not already)
- Require encryption on all devices
- Deploy EDR on all endpoints
- Implement Conditional Access
- Enable DLP for email
- Remote security awareness training
- Device compliance policies
- ZTNA or VPN for on-prem access
- Full Microsoft 365 security configuration
What We Provide
Our managed service is built for hybrid work:
- Identity security: MFA, Conditional Access, risk-based authentication
- Device management: Intune policies, compliance enforcement, EDR
- Data protection: DLP, sensitivity labels, backup
- Monitoring: 24/7 threat detection across all endpoints
- Support: Remote-first helpdesk, anywhere access
---
about hybrid work security.
---