EDITOR’S QUESTION
RAYMOND MACHARIA,
HEAD OF R&D AND
PLANNING, INTERNET
SOLUTIONS KENYA
W
ith increased broadband
penetration, the entry of
cloud technologies and the
rise of a millennial workforce, remote
working is picking up speed; forcing
more and more businesses to redesign
the workplace as we know it.
The CIO is facing continued pressure to
accommodate the digital nomads, taking
a cautious approach to protect corporate
data both on-premise and remotely
and implementing necessary systems to
ensure agility, productivity and security.
Today’s businesses thrive in the cloud,
owing to the agility and security
the platform offers. However, with
employees accessing company data
from any location, organisations require
that at the foremost, the connection
being used is secure. This is done by
providing VPN (virtual private network)
access to the corporate resources,
coupled with authentication using two-
factor authentication (key and lock).
Organisation’s security strategies now
need to incorporate remote working,
as there is an increased risk of human
error if a personal device is used to
access company data or if a company
device is stolen, causing vulnerabilities
to business-critical data. Strong device
usage and management policies, which
only allows for authorised devices
to access the network, can ward off
intruders with the additional defence of
a firewall, which can help detect unusual
activity on the network. Encrypting the
data in use when it is on the device
ensures it remains inaccessible to
unauthorised persons in case of loss or
theft. Better yet, not having any data
reside in the device, but encrypted on
the cloud.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
Any applications in use on mobile
devices must be sanctioned and
controlled by the IT policies. If using
common document processing
applications, the advent of the apps
residing in the cloud will ensure the
application is not compromised and
the data is edited in the cloud. This
ensures the data remains secure against
malicious attacks and reduces chances
of ransomware attacks, which have now
become commonplace.
To conclude:
What security features need to be in
place to secure users and corporate data?
1. Authentication – user
2. Encryption – access
3. Validation – data
What type of security needs to be in
place to help protect data and ensure
that users access only safe networks?
1. In-house firewall with VPN
capabilities for remote access
2. Two-factor authentication for access
to the data
3. Authorisation matrix to control
access to data depending on
sensitivity
4. Logging of all access of data
remotely
5. Lockdown procedure if unauthorised
access is detected
What control measures can be put on
the devices being used while working
remotely and when it comes to
accessing data on the cloud?
1. Single source of devices. Business
needs to source all devices
2. Record of all devices. Serial number,
“With employees
accessing
company data
from any location,
organisations
require that at
the foremost, the
connection being
used is secure.
This is done by
providing VPN
(virtual private
network) access
to the corporate
resources,
coupled with
authentication
using two-factor
authentication
(key and lock).”
MAC (unique) address that is used to
control access to the network
3. Allow only officially sanctioned
apps to be installed and used (best
accessed via the cloud)
4. Create cloud partition separate of
critical business systems for data
storage with remote access n
www.intelligentcio.com