If you want the best you need to hire the best person for each job, many companies are hiring freelance workers on a project by project basis. Not only is this cost-effective, but it allows the company to always find the most qualified person for each job assignment. Since there is such a rise in freelance hiring, we thought it would be the perfect time to talk about how to maintain a high-level of internet security, while always giving access to new freelance workers.
Break your network up into VLANs for improvement in network security.
Benefits of freelance workers
There are benefits to both full-time and freelance workers in a company. Although a full-time employee may cost more in benefits and salary, full-time employees are also going to be invaluable in creating the right workplace environment. Any successful company will have a core of full-time employees that are driving the business, but you need to always add and subtract freelance workers to be the most efficient. However, always adding new members to your network can be tricky, and costly if you haven’t taken the right security measures.
Vetting your freelancers
The first thing you need to do, no matter how tight your network security may be, is to properly vet the freelancer workers you are hiring. An experienced freelancer is going to cost a bit more, but they will save you money in training, as well as, come with better references and credentials. Your best security defense is a good offense. Vetting your freelancers is a good offensive move against cyber threats.
Set up access parameters
Before you give anyone access to your network, work with your IT team to set up the right access parameters for each freelance employee. Break up your network into VLANs so that you can separate departments and projects, allowing access only on a “need to know” basis.
Security levels
Compartmentalize your network so that freelancers don’t have access to the entire network.
Prioritize your data and assign various security levels and passwords to each type of data. Make sure that only limited people have access to your most sensitive and proprietary data, and that a freelance worker only has access to the data that they need. The more levels of security you have, the more secure you can feel about hiring freelancers and giving them access to your network.
Set password expirations
Make sure your IT team knows the terms of each freelancer. Knowing when each freelancer is supposed to finish their contract, and thereby ending their access, is key to network security. Set up temporary access for freelancers that expire when their contract is up, that way if the contract is extended, the access will also be extended.
OnePointSync has managed IT packages and complete IT solutions for small and midsize businesses in Denver. We can help you improve network security, and help you run a more efficient company. Get a quote from an IT expert about your IT security needs.
