Security breaches are expensive. Remote breaches are more expensive.
The average data breach costs a company $9.5 million, and remote security breaches cost $1.07 million more. Remote breaches cost more because of the time it takes to locate the remote device, and executive assistants are attractive targets because they often have access to sensitive information.
Executives' assistants are prime targets.
"A CEO's executive assistant is statistically more likely to be a very attacked person than the CEO," said Ryan Kalember, cybersecurity VP at email security vendor Proofpoint. Hackers target executive assistants because the assistant usually has access to valuable information and accounts.
"Freelancers are beloved targets for cybercriminals, who use phishing and malware to steal credentials and money" says Alex Perekalin of Kaspersky. He cites a scheme where cybercrooks used job ads on Twitter and job boards to plant malware on the devices of those that clicked on the ads. That malware can spread to client networks.
It is a growing trend to outsource executive administrative support. The virtual executive assistant market is growing 40 percent per year. The growth comes as operations and HR leaders see executives spending more than half their time on administrative tasks, dragging productivity and job satisfaction. They can offload that work to a lower-paid, part-time person overseas.
But security is, or should be, one of your most significant concerns.
There are multiple models for hiring remote or virtual executive assistants, with offshore freelancers and independent contractors hired through agencies being the most common methods.
But freelancers and independent contractors typically work on home computers and networks. Is it safe to give a freelancer executive assistant access to your company's files, tools, and platforms? What about financial data, sales numbers, customer lists, and credit card information?
There are three levels of security to consider when hiring remote executive assistants:
Information is the lifeblood of businesses in the digital economy. Giving a virtual assistant access to your company's IT is inherently risky.
Questions to ask about a virtual assistant's IT security include:
Physical security has to do with the location of virtual assistants and their devices. Most offshore virtual assistants working as freelancers or independent contractors use personal computers and work from home offices or use public wi-fi networks, as opposed to employees working in secure buildings on secure networks.
Can you trust a virtual assistant to protect your data and sensitive information and that they are using security best practices? How do you ensure they do not accidentally or intentionally share information they access? Hiring someone you never met in a different part of the world? Protecting your data from human crime is just as important as protecting it from cybercrime. Think about the data a virtual assistant might have access to:
Managed virtual assistant services reduce the risk of hiring remote executive assistants. With a managed service, you don't hire individual assistants one at a time. Instead, you hire a company based in the United States that hires, trains, and supervises assistants. With a managed virtual assistant service, virtual assistants:
Because the virtual assistants are employees of the service provider, any security breach is the service provider's responsibility. The service provider signs confidentiality agreements and NDAs too.
An added layer of security comes in the form of US-based and onsite managers and backup assistants. Onsite managers monitor employee behavior, and US-based managers encrypt and protect passwords and track access to accounts.
Managed virtual assistant services are not the cheapest way to engage a remote executive assistant, but they are the most secure model. Managed service providers have the most robust enterprise-level data security infrastructure, physical, and human security, to provide a comprehensive set of safeguards for client data.
The service provider is liable for any misconduct or breach, and client security is one of their top concerns. If a threat occurs, you have an onshore partner to respond and resolve issues.
Read More: What to Know About Virtual Assistant Security Risks