The COVID-19 pandemic has forced millions to work from home.

In the tech industry, we call home computers and home networks unmanaged endpoints - unmanaged because we don’t control those devices and we have no idea how they’re configured.

There’s a whole bunch of risk that comes with unmanaged endpoints:

1. The operating system of home computers are often neglected. They could be lesser versions of Microsoft Windows or MacOS and haven’t received critical updates or patches.

2. The software or settings that we introduce into corporate environments to safeguard our computers aren’t implemented with unmanaged endpoints.

3. Disaster recovery options on unmanaged endpoints is challenging because data may be stored on the local hard drive of these machines. There may not be any data backups.

4. Privacy and confidentiality of corporate data may also be at risk because, again, such data is stored on an unmanaged hard drive. Who knows if the local admin password on the PC is set to a reasonable level as to disallow root-level access.

5. The use case of home machines are very different from business machines. There’s likely to be more risky behaviors (browsing, downloading, installing by end users) associated with these endpoints taken on by teenagers and children.

6. The networking equipment - like the home router and wifi access point - likely hasn’t been patched, updated, or even its root password rotated from its default setting.

And all of this spells big trouble for the small business.

The challenge is to transform these unmanaged assets into managed ones, and, to inspect the networking environment for potential risks and, well, you know … do something about it!

We help small business use technology better. That includes three critical solutions to help protect small business while distance-working.

1. Ongoing Endpoint Monitoring and Protection.

2. Online Backups.

3. Remote Support.

Our Endpoint Monitoring and Protection software reports vulnerabilities back to us so we can take corrective action. It turns an unmanaged endpoint into a managed one. It helps identify areas where the operating system may be vulnerable, or, when somebody installs a risky program. It also includes an antivirus, anti-malware, safe browsing, and intrusion protection system that counters typical threats to a user’s machine.

Our Online Backup solution is all about recovering the company’s data in addition to the user’s data while they’re using their own PC for company business. In the event of failure or if their machine is hit by a ransomware, we can recover the user’s data to a restored machine.

Our Remote Support is part of what we offer. It’s a human eye to look at the user’s network and can make recommendations to improve their security posture. We can red-flag issues that are unmitigated risks so that they can be dealt with; otherwise, we can help safeguard the remote employee with a few simple changes. And of course, if the user gets in a jam with their tech, we’re there to help so they can get back to work.

In all, our approach is to mitigate risk to the small business and to the employee by taking preventative measures. Instead of just reacting to failure - hoping that everything is okay with an unmanaged asset - we help our clients move beyond hope. We help small businesses have confidence in their ability to function and serve their customers.

That’s how we add value.

R