A Startup Founder’s Guide to Cybersecurity for Remote Teams

Today, many startups around the country embrace remote work. It’s no longer seen as an alternative to in-person work. Many startups also hire employees globally, which means going remote is the only way to work together.

Data from Statista shows that between 2020 and 2023, the share of people working remotely worldwide increased from 20% to 28%. It’s safe to say that remote work is the most popular work structure, with 91% of employees in favor of it. However, the biggest risk factor to this medium is going to be cybersecurity. 

You might brush it off as not being a concern, but you’ll have a hard time convincing investors when pitching for funding. When they learn you are a remote startup, they are going to ask about what steps you’ve taken to maintain cybersecurity. If you don’t want to draw a blank at that moment, read on to learn a few steps you’ll want to take.

#1. Prepare and Make Contingencies for Human Error

Infosecurity Magazine recently highlighted a report by Mimecast, which shows that 95% of all data breaches are caused by human error. Moreover, 43% of respondents saw an increase in internal threats and data leaks due to negligent employees. 

No matter how careful you or your team is, mistakes will eventually happen. There’s no point in wasting time getting angry at your team once something happens. The smart thing is to plan around such events. A fantastic way to do this is to occasionally have mock drills. 

You could simulate what would happen if someone’s email got compromised. Run through the process so that every team member can learn who needs to be notified and what access needs to be revoked. You want such a protocol to be easily accessible to everyone in the team. 

Once you’re confident that your workers are competent in dealing with sudden compromises, you also want to check your tech. With almost every cybersecurity breach, the biggest concern tends to be either a data breach or sabotage. 

It goes without saying that you want systems in place that automatically back up key files to a secure location. Likewise, look into implementing as many additional security features as possible, such as access logs that trigger alerts when unauthorized changes are made. 

#2. Ensure Potential Breach Points are Secured

It’s true that many security incidents happen due to phishing or methods where employees are compromised. However, an equally prominent point of entry tends to be your public-facing features. So, if your website has a landing page and a contact form, you want to ensure they are not left unsecured. 

Interestingly, the new generation of AI website builders often ends up being more secure than traditionally built websites. As Hocoos notes, hosting security is a complex beast and involves using reputable hosts, strong passwords, and keeping security plugins updated.

The best way to stay secure is to ensure that your public-facing portals are as secure as possible. Sometimes, this means involving a pentester and paying for their services. Do it. The money you save is going to be worth it in the long run because recovery from a breach is hard.

According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report, only 12% of organizations queried said they had fully recovered from their data breaches. The report found that the average time it took to identify and contain a breach was 258 days. It’s shocking but unsurprising because when a breach is professionally carried out, most companies don’t even realize it. 

#3. Don’t Try to Do it All Yourself

In so many startups, the founders take on all the roles in the name of efficiency and speed. So, you might be involved in sales, dev, customer service, and yes, cybersecurity as well. While it’s possible to split your attention like this, it’s probably a good idea to leave cybersecurity out of your roster of responsibilities. 

We understand it’s not feasible or practical to bring an expert on board for a new startup. That’s totally fair. However, you can train up one of your other team members to keep an eye on certain easy-to-monitor aspects. 

For instance, they can routinely check Google Drive permissions so that files aren’t accidentally public. Likewise, if any interns or contractors were used, they can ensure that those accounts can no longer access company data. 

At the end of the day, it’s fascinating how small steps like the ones discussed above go a long way toward maintaining cybersecurity. The fact is that most breaches don’t happen because the hacking group Anonymous decided to specifically target you. Even a random data leak from a large-scale hack is enough to ruin your reputation. If you’re in fields like tech, or God forbid, cybersecurity, that could be the end of your startup.