Most Brazilians not receiving tech support for remote work – Avast

As the COVID-19 pandemic forces containment measures and quarantine on the public, most workers in Brazil do not receive adequate tech support from their companies for the installation and operation of teleworking activities.

According to a recent survey by antivirus firm Avast, 58% of Brazilians claim that they do not receive the technological support or knowledge they need from their employer when they work at home or in a public place.

Companies that are preparing to send their work teams home must ensure they can obtain the support they need to work remotely safely, Avast said.

Avast recommends that employees be advised to use pre-approved laptops and smartphones to access corporate and sensitive materials, including their own emails and documents.

Ideally, these devices should have security solutions installed by the companies and monitored by their IT department. The antivirus firm also recommends that enterprises make key IT support contacts available to employees working remotely.

The recommendation of security experts is to apply two-factor authentication whenever possible to add an extra layer of protection to corporate accounts.

Avast says employees need to be informed about other hardware, software and services that are not owned by the company but could be used and, above all, provide virtual private network (VPN) connections to protect their communications whenever possible.

Meanwhile, cybersecurity group Fortinet says that VPNs protect information through encryption and allow the secure connection of all devices, even when accessed from public Wi-Fi access points.

Companies should implement measures such as content filtering, application visibility and traffic configuration to block unsafe content that can compromise devices and information.

Fortinet also called on firms to train employees on cyber risks and actively involve them in protecting the business. Measures such as blocking a PC screen when leaving one's desk can cause another worker to replicate that behavior, security analysts say.

Matheus Jacyntho, manager of cybersecurity and data privacy at ICTS Protiviti, agreed in a press release:

“In times of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which everyone is already susceptible due to impacts on different sectors of society, it is also essential that the company teaches employees to be aware that they are also an integral part of security. It is not just providing a laptop, smartphone or tablet. You need to educate,” he said.