A STOCKTON-based telecommunications firm is warning North-East businesses to protect themselves against cyber threats and infrastructure failure as the move from office to home-based working becomes permanent.

Odyssey Systems, which offers telephony, connectivity, cloud and communication services, has always thought remote working is an important offer for sick days, maternity leave and other family commitments – but the coronavirus pandemic left firms no choice.

Managing director of the telco Mike Odysseas says decision makers once concerned about productivity and remote working have now seen working from home can be effective.

He said: "Management believe it is not possible to be productive while working from home but Covid-19 has forced people to do it for such a long time, companies will likely introduce extensive work from home policies."

The man, who said the virus accelerated the inevitable albeit 'slow' shift, warns that with the move comes additional responsibility in securing critical infrastructure and communications.

Mr Odysseas, whose firm deals with different-sized clients across the country, urges any business using third-party communication tools to help manage teams to think twice – especially those using a free service like WhatsApp, which sells data and could be bought by a competitor.

He warns against "jumping on the bandwagon" with new tools, reiterating that websites devices access can tap into metadata such as the model of device, its MAC address and default language, meaning experiences online can be better personalised and optimised for selling.

He added: "It's not appropriate to use a free service for commercial services. Everyone has to work within a budget but you are giving up your clients' data and eventually something will happen to change minds.

"Tools or services may seem expensive but you don't realise what you're giving away – it's a big price."

For larger firms and its critical employees, the boss suggests installing a second internet connection at home, paid for by the firm, to ensure stability and security.

He said: "The home internet connection was set up for a different purpose so getting a second, hard-wired connection for some employees is a good option.

"Home working can get problematic when others are streaming Netflix or updating their Xbox. With an additional connection used for only work purposes, you know it's secure, you wouldn't need a wifi connection and you would always be reachable. It's an ideal solution."

No other devices should be connected to a work network, Mr Odysseas says, as this can create security risks. If one device is infected with malware, it easily spreads to others and puts commercial data at risk. Having work devices on their own network prevents this from happening, while easing employee concerns over increased bills due to internet use.

Firms must also consider the location of their servers as on-premise infrastructure can struggle when workforces move from being 'inside' to 'outside' traffic – from the office to elsewhere – while off-premise solutions need geographically spread backups in case of an emergency.

For example, without a backup in a different location, a power cut at a data centre would bring down each company's systems that were hosted there.