How to Keep Your Company’s Virtual Water Cooler Secure

Water-cooler conversations have long been a fixture of office life and a place for workers to bond and feel more connected as a team. But with the rise of remote and hybrid work, many of the casual, face-to-face chats that used to take place around the water cooler have gone digital and are no longer off the record.

This can be a real headache for business leaders when it comes to ensuring their company’s data security. Whether your hybrid employees are messaging about what they did over the weekend or tossing business strategies around via text or email, chances are pretty good that some people are using personal devices and accessing or sharing documents from unsecure public networks. Thankfully, there are proven ways to help keep sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands. Here are five strategies you can use to help keep your company’s data safe when the virtual water cooler is located here, there, or anywhere.

1. Provide Cybersecurity Training

First, you want to ensure your employees understand that data security is a top priority. Believe it or not, some people still may not be aware that data security is everyone’s job, regardless of their position in the company. Regular security-awareness training and ongoing communication around the importance of protecting company—and customer—information can help your team keep security top of mind.

2. Require Two-Factor Authentication

One of the easiest ways to help ensure your virtual water cooler is secure is to require your team to utilize two-factor authentication. Unfortunately, some people still use weak passwords or one password for all their online accounts, making it easy for hackers to breach. Two-factor authentication requires employees to use both their password and then another code, usually sent by text, email, or face recognition—and it adds an extra step that can help keep your company data safe.

3. Use a VPN for Company Comms

The rise of the hybrid workforce means that employees may be accessing and sharing company information from home, a coffee shop, or a hotel on a regular basis. This also means company information is likely being accessed and shared over an unsecured WiFi network, which is one of the most common ways to expose your company to a data breach. One solution is to use your own virtual private network (VPN), which will deliver a protected network connection when employees are using public networks. VPNs encrypt online activity and protect identity, making it more difficult for third parties to track your team—and their communications.

4. Utilize Encryption Software

Encryption software lets you get ahead of data breaches and helps your hybrid workers keep data safe. For example, if someone’s phone or laptop is stolen at the gym, encrypted files ensure that nobody will be able to read the files on those devices without the proper key. Encryption also keeps in-transit files secure, which eliminates risks when employees are working on unsecured networks.

5. Set Up a Secure Virtual Water Cooler

As more businesses adopt remote and hybrid workstyles, they’re moving from traditional and costly on-premises phone systems to the versatility that all-in-one cloud-based communication, collaboration, and customer-care solution offers. A cloud-based Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) system will deliver voice, video, chat, file-sharing, productivity applications, and a contact center on a single platform that goes wherever work goes. In short, a good UCaaS can help your company establish a collaborative and thriving virtual water cooler—and it can make customer communications more efficient.

Do your due diligence when researching UCaaS providers, as they’re not all the same. A good UCaaS provider will offer solutions that prioritize the protection of your sensitive information, as well as a security team that monitors your system 24/7. It’s always a good idea to look for a UCaaS that has third-party verification of their security.

A virtual water cooler can help make up for the human connections that are lost in a hybrid office environment—but it’s key to make sure your teams’ digital communications are protected. Partnering with a streamlined and hyper-secure UCaaS provider like Intermedia(Opens in a new window) can help foster communication between your team members and keep your company’s data safe. Now that’s a healthy hybrid work environment.