For many managers, working with freelancers has become second nature. Even in a large corporation, not all jobs can be completed by the team; small enterprises, on the other hand, sometimes cannot afford to hire an additional person. Connecting an outsider to the digital workflow, on the other hand, can bring new cyber dangers, particularly if you work with a person directly rather than through an intermediary.
How To Stay Safe While Working With Freelancers
Danger 1: Incoming Emails
You are unlikely to recruit someone without first reviewing their portfolio. You will very certainly be required to follow the link or open the file if a freelancer sends you a document, an archive with a group of works, or a connection to a third-party website. However, practically anything might be in that file or website. By injecting malicious scripts into a written document or embedding an exploit pack in website code, attackers have been able to take control of business systems on several occasions.
Remember that an attacker can provide a perfectly regular portfolio and then transmit a malicious file as part of an assignment. Furthermore, a freelancer’s computer or inbox can be taken over and used to harm your firm. After all, no one understands how their device or account is protected, and your IT security has no say in the matter. Even if they originated from a freelancer with whom you’ve worked for years, you shouldn’t trust the files you get.
Solution 1: Filter and Scan Emails
Maintaining digital hygiene is critical if you need to work with documents developed outside of the company infrastructure. All personnel should be aware of the relevant cyber threats, therefore raising their security awareness is worthwhile.
- Set rigorous guidelines for document exchange, notify freelancers, and refuse to access files that do not follow these guidelines. This may only be required to get around anti-malware filtering in an e-mail.
- Set aside a separate computer or virtual machine, segregated from the rest of the network, to work with or at least review files from external sources. In this approach, any possible damage in the event of infection can be greatly reduced.
- Make sure to install a security solution like Systweak Antivirus on this computer or virtual machine to prevent exploiting vulnerabilities or clicking on a link to a malicious website.
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Danger 2: Access Permissions
Freelancers frequently have access to the company’s digital infrastructure, such as file sharing platforms, project management systems, conference services, internal messengers, cloud services, and so on, to cooperate on a project. Avoid two blunders here: don’t offer the freelancer too many powers, and don’t forget to revoke access once the job is done.
When it comes to granting rights, the concept of least privilege should be followed. Only the resources required for the present job should be available to a freelancer. It is also not a formality to revoke rights when the project is completed. It is not a good thing when an additional account with access to corporate data exists.
Solution 2: Revoke Rights & Permissions
The most crucial thing to do after the employment connection ends is to delete or deactivate the freelancer account. Change the linked email and password, at the very least — this may be required in systems that destroy all data related to the account. In addition, we suggest that you:
- Keep track of who has access to which services in a central location. On the one hand, this will make it easier to revoke all privileges once the project is completed, and on the other hand, it may be valuable when investigating an occurrence.
- Contractors should practice good digital hygiene and deploy security solutions on the devices they use to access company data.
- Wherever practical, requiring two-factor authentication in all cloud systems.
- If possible, create a distinct infrastructure for the projects and files of freelancers and subcontractors.
- Malware scanning of all data submitted to cloud storage or corporate server.
The Final Word On How To Stay Safe While Working With Freelancers
The above-mentioned tips and tricks will help you deal with outsiders and other entities and keep your network and devices safe and secure at the same time. And with these precautions, a powerful real-time antivirus app is required on all systems. Systweak Antivirus is one such software that runs on a powerful scanning engine with updated virus definitions.
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