Nov 05, 2015

As technology increases, being able to work from home is quickly becoming a viable option for many workers. Advances like video chat allow for face-to-face conversations from miles away, and the adoption of personal computers into the home makes remote working extremely easy for much of the population. 

A Forbes article stated that in 2013, about 30 million Americans worked from home at least once a week. In fact, roughly 3 million worked from home exclusively. 

While being able to telecommute is great for many workers, many companies are worried about the security concerns of letting employees work from home. Doing business today requires a lot of online file sharing, and the cybersecurity practices of many employees are lacking. 

Hackers have been very busy lately

There will always be nefarious individuals out to steal what's rightfully yours. Crime certainly isn't an invention of the modern age, however, the cyber era has given way to a level of criminal activity that has never been seen before. 

According to a study conducted by the Ponemon Institute for CNNMoney, attacks on personal information are on the rise. The report stated that about 47 percent of American adults had their personal information hacked in 2014. That's nearly half of every working-age American having their privacy invaded by malicious individuals. 

What this means is that hackers will not stop their criminal activity anytime soon. Their efforts are obviously paying off, and they'll continue doing what they do as long as they can get away with it. 

Of course, CNNMoney pointed out that these hackers got this information from large collections of data held by companies like eBay or AOL rather than hacking individuals themselves. However, the personal information they gain can range from names and email addresses to commonly used passwords.

If your employees use a single password for multiple accounts (which entirely too many people do) a hack of their personal information could put your company at risk if their email contains sensitive business data. 

Secure file sharing is a great solution

Despite this increase in personal information hacks, remote working is still a viable option for companies that take the initiative to set up a secure file sharing system. Solutions like Memeo C1 allow employees to receive and send large files securely, even when they're at home. 

However, the greatest advantage of Memeo C1 is its remote wipe system. If your employee's information is ever compromised, you can simply delete all the information that they had access to. Within seconds a hacker will no longer have your company's critical data, allowing you peace of mind in a world fraught with cybersecurity issues.