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Keep remote work secure during a pandemic by preparing before disruption: decide which functions must continue, set clear remote-work rules, protect accounts and devices, preserve recoverable backups, and exercise the plan. Continuity depends on people and operations as much as technology, so include worker health, safety, and wellbeing alongside cybersecurity and uptime.
Start with the work that must continue
A continuity plan should identify the critical operations your organization needs to maintain, the people and systems they depend on, and the minimum acceptable level of service. The World Health Organization (WHO) says continuity planning helps organizations maintain and restore critical operations to a predetermined acceptable level.
For each essential function, document its dependencies, key roles, required records, and minimum staffing. Decide which tasks can be done remotely, which need an alternate site or in-person presence, and who can take over if a key employee is unavailable. CISA pandemic planning materials for 911 centers also discuss telework, alternate sites, devolution, and mutual aid as mitigation options; that guidance is specific to emergency communications, so other employers should adapt the concepts to their own operations.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsWHO business continuity planning guidance (2019) · CISA emergency communications pandemic guidance
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Set remote-work rules before activation
Write down who may work remotely, what systems and information they may access, which devices are approved, how staff request help, and what to do if a device, account, or connection is lost or compromised. Define responsibilities for managers, IT and security teams, and employees. CISA’s federal mobile workplace guidance calls for written telework agreements, policies covering remote access and applicable bring-your-own-device arrangements, user training, and secured remote access servers and client devices. Federal guidance is a useful control reference, but organizations should adapt it to their jurisdiction and obligations.
Maintain a list of approved collaboration and conferencing tools, with instructions for using them securely. Make sure employees know where to find procedures and how they will receive updates if normal communication channels are unavailable.
CISA Federal Mobile Workplace Security (2024) · CISA Telework Essentials Toolkit (2020)
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Protect identities and remote access
Require multifactor authentication (MFA) for remote access and important services such as email, file storage, and privileged accounts. Prefer phishing-resistant methods where your identity provider and devices support them. A physical FIDO security key is one option in that category; check compatibility before adopting it, because support varies across systems and devices.
Keep VPNs, network infrastructure, and remote endpoints updated. Secure remote access servers, remove unnecessary exposed services, and restrict and monitor Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) if it is required. Apply MFA to remote connections and review login activity. MFA is not a substitute for patching or secure configuration: an exposed vulnerable device or misconfigured gateway can still put the organization at risk.
Organizations evaluating access architecture can compare traditional VPN-centered access with Zero Trust, Secure Service Edge (SSE), or Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) approaches. CISA and partners discuss these approaches as options that may offer greater visibility, while also noting risks associated with traditional remote access and VPN misconfiguration. There is no universally correct choice established by that guidance. Compare options against the criteria that matter in your environment:
- Whether access can be narrowly limited by user identity, device, and application.
- What monitoring and logging visibility is available.
- How well managed and remote devices are supported.
- Resilience and performance for employees’ locations.
- Implementation effort and the skills needed to operate the system.
- Cost and migration effort.
CISA guidance on requiring MFA · CISA Cybersecurity Essentials (2025) · CISA StopRansomware Guide · CISA and partners’ guidance on modern network access security (2024)
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Train employees to recognize phishing and social engineering, secure their home workspaces, and report suspected incidents promptly. Keep endpoint defenses current and install security updates. Maintain frequent backups of important systems and files, verify that restoration works, and store copies offline and offsite. A backup that cannot be restored—or that remains reachable by an attacker—may not provide a reliable recovery path.
CISA Telework Essentials Toolkit (2020) · CISA Federal Mobile Workplace Security (2024)
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Include worker health and wellbeing
Plan how schedules, caregiving constraints, safety, and wellbeing support will be handled when remote work is activated. Explain how responsibilities or work arrangements may change, where employees can get technical help, and how they can raise health or workload concerns. WHO and the International Labour Organization (ILO) address telework’s physical and mental health and social wellbeing impacts in their 2022 technical brief.
CISA’s pandemic guidance for emergency communications expresses the broader continuity principle: “CISA recommends that all pandemic planning actions appropriately balance public safety, workforce health and safety, and the continued delivery of essential services and functions.” That source addresses emergency communications, but the balance between workforce safety and essential service delivery is relevant to continuity planning more broadly.
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WHO and ILO technical brief on healthy and safe telework (2022) · CISA emergency communications pandemic guidelines (2020)
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Exercise the plan and keep it current
Test the remote-work arrangements before they are needed, then repeat exercises and revise the plan as systems, roles, and risks change. WHO’s continuity guidance calls for plans to be developed, implemented, simulated, monitored, and regularly updated.
- Test access capacity: Have staff connect remotely and confirm they can reach the applications and records required for their roles.
- Test support and recovery: Check whether the help desk can handle increased demand, and rehearse identity recovery when a user loses a device or cannot authenticate.
- Test restoration: Restore selected systems or files from backup and verify that the restored information is usable.
- Test communication and handoffs: Confirm staff can receive updates and that authority transfers smoothly when a key person is unavailable.
- Track fixes: Record failures, assign an owner and due date to each remediation, and update the plan after changes are completed.
This is practical organizational guidance, not a substitute for current local public-health direction, employment requirements, or an organization-specific risk assessment. Pandemic-related CISA material published in 2020 includes emergency communications guidance; apply it in context and follow current instructions for your location.
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