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Best remote work books for business in 2024

Remote work is here to stay. However, companies need to ensure remote workers can connect safely and efficiently. Balancing convenience, employee freedom, and data security takes skill and judgment. And it also requires a little creativity to support remote workers while meeting business goals.

If you are grappling with remote work challenges, this blog is for you. We will explore some of the most accessible and informative remote work books. There are plenty of entertaining experts around (and a few imposters). But the books below are all essential additions to your management bookshelf.

Benefits and challenges with remote working employees

Working from home is a fundamental part of modern life. As of 2024, around 33 million Americans work remotely. Virtually all workers would like the option of working remotely sometimes. And almost 30% of workers have adopted a “hybrid work” routine, mixing office time and work from home.

Employees are embracing remote work because they want to. Working from home allows staff to find the right work-life balance. Workers can balance childcare, leisure, and work. And they can forget about stressful commutes.

For companies, remote work boosts employee happiness and reduces the cost of on-premises systems. Home workers are often more productive (although not always), and companies can leverage national or international talent pools.

On the other hand, managing remote teams brings challenges. Managers need to communicate effectively and keep workers motivated. Building teams is tricky without face-to-face contact. And then there are security worries.

Remote work often requires exchanging sensitive data between central or cloud data centers and homes or public networks. Employees need third-party remote access to apps and databases. This access creates new and potentially harmful data risks.

None of these challenges are insurmountable. If they were, millions of employees would permanently return to the office, but that is not happening. Creative companies are finding ways to benefit from working from home without risking their reputations.

Successful firms also leverage expert advice and constantly expand their remote work knowledge. Head straight to the list below for our recommended reading, or check out these related articles to explore remote work further:

Best books to read about remote work

Titles for remote work managers to dive into:

“The Ultimate Guide to Remote Work”
“Remote: Office Not Required”
“Remote Work: Redesign Processes, Practices and Strategies to Engage a Remote Workforce”
“Running Remote: Master the Lessons from the World’s Most Successful Remote-Work Pioneers”
“Remote Not Distant: Design a Company Culture That Will Help You Thrive in a Hybrid Workplace”
“Office Optional: How to Build a Connected Culture with Virtual Teams”
“Leading From Anywhere: The Essential Guide to Managing Remote Teams”
“Work Together Anywhere: A Handbook on Working Remotely Successfully”
“The Nowhere Office: Reinventing Work and the Workplace of the Future”
“Remote Leadership: How to Accelerate Achievement and Create a Community in a Work-from-Home World”
“How the Future Works: Leading Flexible Teams to Do The Best Work of Their Lives”
“Remote Work Revolution: Succeeding from Anywhere”
“HBR Guide to Remote Work”
“Virtual Culture: The Way We Work Doesn’t Work Anymore, a Manifesto”
“Deep Work”
“The Nowhere Office: Reinventing Work and the Workplace of the Future”

That list should occupy even the most voracious readers. So, let’s turn the page and introduce 2024’s best remote work books.

“The Ultimate Guide to Remote Work” by Wade Foster, Alison Groves, and Danny Schreiber

Billing itself as the “ultimate guide” sets expectations high for this Zapier App publication, but the authors deliver. Based on the real-world experiences of Zapier CEO Wade Foster and his team, the book discusses practical struggles and solutions. Always avoiding jargon, it explains how to build remote teams and make them run smoothly.

Check for the latest Kindle version of the eBook, as the authors update the text frequently. Regular updates mean that few books are as fresh and relevant.

“Remote: Office Not Required” by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

First published in 2013, “Office Not Required” set the trend for remote working manuals. Ten years later, it remains relevant and inspirational.

Fried and Hansson used their experiences as founders of project management start-up Basecamp. What makes their argument persuasive is the process Basecamp followed, moving from assumptions about on-premises work to embracing remote alternatives.

Although written from a CEO perspective, the book is equally valid for workers, so anyone can benefit from it.

“Remote Work: Redesign Processes, Practices and Strategies to Engage a Remote Workforce” by Chris Dyer and Kim Shepherd

Moving to remote work is a business process requiring systematic planning and skill. Dyer and Shepherd know the task inside-out, having shifted their teams to home working during the Covid pandemic.

This book is ideal for managers seeking to structure remote work transitions. For instance, Dyer and Shepherd discuss writing remote work policies and using digital tools to secure workstations. They also discuss HR and management strategies to support employees and delve into measurement techniques to verify remote work productivity. Managers will find it an invaluable companion.

“Running Remote: Master the Lessons from the World’s Most Successful Remote-Work Pioneers” by Liam Martin and Rob Rawson

Rawson and Martin founded Time Doctor to help workers with time management. However, Time Doctor encountered problems when transitioning to a remote model. “Running Remote” chronicles the experience, adding advice about how to leverage remote workforce technologies. Honest and very readable, it makes a convincing case for going remote. But it also adds context about dangers and challenges.

One of the best aspects of this book is what the authors call the “async mindset.” Stripping away the jargon, this is a valuable framework for managing remote staff and ditching old-style meetings or management techniques.

“Remote Not Distant: Design a Company Culture That Will Help You Thrive in a Hybrid Workplace” by Gustavo Razzetti

As Razzetti observes, one of the best things about remote work is that it separates employees from static offices, allowing them to work wherever they want. However, one of the drawbacks of remote work is the distance between workers and managers. Solving this problem is tricky – at least without the advice contained in this fascinating book.

Easy to read but well-informed, Razzetti’s book explains how to mold remote work mindsets and manage distributed teams. He explores ways to build a remote corporate culture and collaborate seamlessly across continents. In other words, there’s plenty of gold here for managers to discover.

“Office Optional: How to Build a Connected Culture with Virtual Teams” by Larry English

Larry English blazed a trail in remote work, helping to build one of the first remote-first consultancy firms. He also timed this book perfectly to coincide with the Covid pandemic. More importantly, he filled this primer with invaluable stats and management wisdom.

Readers can glean a lot of insights from “Office Optional”. Some of the most memorable sections deal with building trust across the oceans and maintaining close professional relationships with colleagues you barely ever meet. As English stresses, relationships are everything in remote work. But with the right mindset and skills, a remote leader can unify and inspire even the most dispersed team.

Leading From Anywhere: The Essential Guide to Managing Remote Teams

Burkus has written the how-to manual for remote managers. “Leading from Anywhere” sets out critical tasks for smooth remote work. It covers employee onboarding, performance reviews, communication, preventing burnout, and building a healthy remote culture.

Burkus tackles each subject with a mixture of best practices and real-life testimonies. By the end of his book, you should be ready for whatever remote work transitions come your way.

“Work Together Anywhere: A Handbook on Working Remotely Successfully” by Lisette Sutherland and Kirsten Janene-Nelson

Sutherland is one of the most in-demand virtual team consultants, helping companies worldwide craft functional remote work setups. This book presents advice from the front line about what makes good remote teams and what causes teams to fail.

One of the best aspects of “Work Together Anywhere” is how it breaks down tasks and ideas by role. There are chapters for managers leading remote teams, employees, and even executives. Every stakeholder plays a part in remote work. Sutherland and Janene-Nelson explain what they need to do.

“The Nowhere Office: Reinventing Work and the Workplace of the Future” by Julia Hobsbawm

Hobsbawm is an experienced communications expert (and a popular podcaster on remote work topics). Her book, “The Nowhere Office,” distills her experiences advising companies about how to embrace hybrid work. Hobsbawm offers a positive vision of employee flexibility that complements corporate goals, provided companies know what they are doing.

Another strong point of “The Nowhere Office” is that it takes on critics of home working. For instance, Hobsbawm accepts that working from home can isolate workers or cause leadership headaches. She has plenty of convincing answers to those problems, along with almost every common argument against hybrid work.

We liked the book so much that we actually spoke to the author in late 2023. Check out the interview before ordering the eBook or paperback, as Hobsbawm delivers some insights that you won’t find in the text.

“Remote Leadership: How to Accelerate Achievement and Create a Community in a Work-from-Home World” by David Pachter

When the pandemic hit, marketing agency JumpCrew was still getting started. An intense face-to-face strategy and a close-knit office team had powered rapid growth. However, that had to change as the firm adopted remote working. As the CEO of JumpCrew, Pachter oversaw the transition. And with more than 200 employees at last count, he did pretty well.

“Remote Leadership” tells the story of adaptation under pressure. Pachter explains how a three-part model based on reflective leadership, collaborative learning, and peer coaching helped JumpCrew survive. He also argues persuasively that similar ideas can help remote teams thrive.

“How the Future Works: Leading Flexible Teams to Do The Best Work of Their Lives” by Brian Elliott and Sheela Subramanian

Approved by the CEO of Slack, “How the Future Works” will inspire anyone who is half-convinced about the virtues of remote working. Elliott and Subramanian explore the benefits of flexibility for workers and companies.

Along the way, they make radical suggestions about the value of letting go – enabling teams to express their creativity without interfering. However, they ground this sense of freedom in hard-headed practical advice about managing remote teams. The result is a fusion of optimism and realism and a great explainer for remote work managers.

“Remote Work Revolution: Succeeding from Anywhere” by Tsedal Neeley

Written by a professor at Harvard Business School, this Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book Of The Year nominee is a must-read for remote work managers.

Unlike many remote work think pieces, Neeley’s work focuses on data security and technical challenges. Expect step-by-step guides to creating functional teams and plenty of case studies to bring the theory to life. The tone is academic (naturally) but not inaccessible at any stage.

“The HBR Guide to Remote Work” by Harvard Business Review staff

It may be a little dry in places, but HBR’s remote work guide is a must-have nonetheless. The reason is that this guide covers a lot of ground concisely but intelligently. Readers learn about setting up home offices, managing teams, ways to run virtual meetings, and choosing remote work technologies. There’s no better nuts and bolts guide to working remotely for bosses and employees alike.

“Virtual Culture: The Way We Work Doesn’t Work Anymore, a Manifesto” by Bryan Miles

Based on years of coaching teams, this short but engaging book urges managers to look beyond routines and old-style performance targets.

For Miles, remote working requires a complete change in company attitude. Effective teams are free and autonomous. And managers need to find ways to engage with colleagues without micro-managing their activities. That’s not easy, but “Virtual Culture” offers some handy pointers.

“Deep Work” by Cal Newport

Cal Newport’s modern classic dates back to 2016, but it anticipated the world of remote work in uncanny detail. And Newport’s expert insights are just as relevant as ever.

“Deep Work” argues that elite workers will dedicate their mind power and attention to critical tasks in the future. Trivial meetings won’t steal their time and attention. Instead, they might spend half a day meditating to prepare their minds for a few hours of productive work.

This kind of attitude fits perfectly with remote work. If you have not already done so, be sure to schedule a few hours with Newport soon.

Books for remote employees

The transition to working from home or any remote location demands a new set of skills and adaptations—from creating an efficient workspace and maintaining ergonomics to mastering virtual communication and ensuring personal well-being. Whether you’re a seasoned remote worker or just starting, understanding the nuances of this evolving work culture is crucial for success.

We’ve chosen a few books that can guide you to make the shift to remote work manageable and truly rewarding. Here is our list:

“The Year Without Pants: WordPress.com and the Future of Work”
“Remote, Inc.: How to Thrive at Work . . . Wherever You Are”
“Working From Home: Making the New Normal Work for You”
“Ready, Set, Remote!: The Fast Guide to Creating a Professional Home Office”
“Work from Home Ergonomics 101: Tips to Improve Your Comfort, Productivity, and Safety While Working Remotely”

“The Year Without Pants: WordPress.com and the Future of Work” by Scott Berkun

Back in 2012, ex-Microsoft manager Berkun started working at Automattic (the parent company of hosting giant WordPress). And what he found was a revelation. Automattic pioneered flexible working. The firm has never fixed itself to a central office. Its employees famously barely send emails, let alone attend morning staff meetings.

“The Year Without Pants” is a highly entertaining document from the early years of remote work. It’s an essential read for employees who are toying with home working. But the book is also full of management nuggets (as well as being flat-out entertaining).

“Remote, Inc.: How to Thrive at Work . . . Wherever You Are” by Robert Pozen and Alexandra Samuel

If you are intimidated by asking for more flexible work, this is the book to read. Pozen and Samuel highlight the many benefits of leaving the office behind and explore some common challenges individuals face when they work alone.

Chapters look at managing your time, communicating with managers, and making the most of online meetings. These skills don’t come naturally to everyone. But the techniques and tricks supplied by this book can make the adjustment easier.

“Working From Home: Making the New Normal Work for You” by Karen Mangia

Mangia writes from the standpoint of someone who has tried to work from home but struggled. Most of us can sympathize with her tales about claustrophobic home offices, uncomfortable chairs, and endless distractions. The darker side of remote working can often make life very tricky.

However, Mangia also devises remote work solutions. She discusses striking a healthy work-life balance, staying motivated, and remaining connected with colleagues—everyday tasks that all remote employees face.

“Ready, Set, Remote!: The Fast Guide to Creating a Professional Home Office” by Dave Allen

Most remote employees are not interior designers, and not all home spaces transform smoothly into offices. Dave Allen’s practical guide will be gold dust for anyone converting a corner of your home into a productivity center. He keeps things down-to-earth and concise, and his cybersecurity reminders are particularly valuable.

“Work from Home Ergonomics 101: Tips to Improve Your Comfort, Productivity, and Safety While Working Remotely” by Morgan Sutherland

Back or joint pain can ruin your remote work experience. Poorly designed workspaces can cause a host of physical problems. Morgan Sutherland’s book explains how to apply ergonomic principles to a remote work environment. He draws on extensive physio experience to clarify posture, seating, screen alignment, and destressing techniques. Everyone should read it before ditching the office.

Beyond books: Smart thinking for securing remote workers

Remote work brings many challenges. Home workers often face issues with communication, team building, work-life balance, and staying motivated.

Cultural and organizational questions are critically important. However, remote workers also need to contend with technical matters like cybersecurity and ensuring confidentiality. Books can assist, but solving those problems requires specialist help.

Employees need additional training about handling data at home and connecting safely to central networks. Companies should also extend security tools to remote workers, supplying authentication systems, VPN clients, and malware prevention tools.

Securing remote workers internally can succeed. However, using security partners with remote work experience is often preferable.

NordLayer’s solutions are a case in point. Companies can create flexible network perimeters. Remote Access VPN and access management tools cover remote devices, ensuring only authorized users can access network resources. Flexible tools allow BYOD for office days, while cloud integrations enable remote workers to access assets they need.

Brush up on your knowledge with 2024’s best remote work books. If you need assistance, feel free to get in touch. NordLayer will help you find the perfect remote work solution.

About Version 2 Digital

Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About NordLayer
NordLayer is an adaptive network access security solution for modern businesses – from the world’s most trusted cybersecurity brand, Nord Security.

The web has become a chaotic space where safety and trust have been compromised by cybercrime and data protection issues. Therefore, our team has a global mission to shape a more trusted and peaceful online future for people everywhere.

About NordLayer
NordLayer is an adaptive network access security solution for modern businesses – from the world’s most trusted cybersecurity brand, Nord Security.

The web has become a chaotic space where safety and trust have been compromised by cybercrime and data protection issues. Therefore, our team has a global mission to shape a more trusted and peaceful online future for people everywhere.

Europeans face evolving cyberthreats. Defense strategies need to be robust and pragmatic

Guest speaker, Forrester Sr. analyst Tope Olufon explains how to stay resilient in Europe’s fluid threat landscape.

Cybersecurity is a complicated and constantly changing endeavor requiring robust security solutions and services such as cyber threat intelligence, automated incident response, and managed detection and response (MDR). But having all of these is not enough, according to Tope Olufon, senior analyst at Forrester, a leading global market research company.

At the ESET WORLD 2024 conference, Mr. Olufon also highlighted the importance of threat actor motives and the specific context in which cybersecurity solutions are deployed. He also kindly answered a few of ESET’s questions afterward.

Considering the fluid threat landscape together with cybersecurity context, it is not possible to say what the best product is or how, for example, a good threat intelligence report should look, according to Mr. Olufon.

“No matter, how you slice and dice a threat intelligence report, what matters the most in the end is what it means for you, how can you use this and how this is going to make you more secure tomorrow, next week, or next year,” Mr. Olufon said.

Today’s threat landscape

Currently, the two most commonly reported attack methods are software supply chain breaches and software vulnerabilities, as organizations hit by those attacks tend to have noisy and opaque system environments, according to Forrester.

This means that companies still struggle to achieve good visibility of their IT assets and are flooded by numerous false positive detections. “The visibility needed to define your organizational needs and to set a context for cybersecurity investments is missing,” Mr. Olufon said.

Here are biggest information/IT security challenges noticed by Forrester:

Receiving too many false positive detection alerts
Lack of comprehensive IT asset visibility
Complexity of IT environment
Inability to measure the effectiveness of a security program
Receiving too many detection alerts

Besides these internal challenges, organizations need to also adapt to current external trends: Geopolitics are a lot more significant, since previously “insulated” sectors such as health care are now prime targets for threat actors, and the global skills gap means that things will get worse.

“It is an asymmetric playing field,” Mr. Olufon said, stressing that it doesn’t mean that those more vulnerable organizations are hopeless. “While there are, of course, some constraints, those organizations can start from somewhere. Organizations can start with creating an asset inventory, identifying what they have. The only way to eat an elephant is one fork at a time and that’s how you approach cybersecurity regardless of industry.”

Another thing that organizations need to consider is threat actors’ motivation. There are threat groups that go only for their targets’ money, but others want to stir political instability, or disrupt critical infrastructure.

To understand the current threat landscape and be prepared for upcoming threats, organizations should utilize cyber threat intelligence. However, many of them struggle to incorporate the compiled information into their security programs.

“In those organizations, the threat intelligence is something you pay for and show to the board at quarterly meetings. ‘We noticed 1000 samples of this attack,’ that doesn’t really mean anything,” Mr. Olufon said.

Therefore, threat intelligence needs to be contextualized and the right stakeholders need to be identified.

Responding to incidents

Despite cybersecurity companies investing a lot into prevention, organizations need to anticipate that something bad is going to happen. Therefore, incident response (IR) capabilities are a key part of cyber defenses.

Successful incident response means that a threat is mitigated quickly, and a targeted company doesn’t lose money or customers. But this is easier said than done. Currently, organizations face several challenges when utilizing proper IR:

Risks grow exponentially, but resources do not. Talent and tooling need to constantly evolve.
Data sovereignty requirements make data collection and storage a complex issue because local data residence requirements could make organizations’ capabilities constrained.
Evolving privacy requirements introduce new complexities to employee activity monitoring as privacy requirements in some countries make data collection difficult.
Threat intelligence feeds are poorly integrated. Threat-hunting efforts are also rudimentary.

And all this sheds light on the importance of MDR. Its essential component is Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) which brings to the table the ability to respond to an incident both while it is still occurring and immediately after. Other important MDR components are threat-hunting capabilities.

“Human-driven threat hunting capabilities to be precise. Because what we have seen in the market is a lot of vendors saying that they have AI-driven threat hunting. But that is not sufficient, as AI is still just an enabler” Mr. Olufon said.

Finally, MDR should utilize automation because threat actors are very good at automation too, and MDR should help achieve a balance of powers.

But again, context is important. An MDR provider should also be able to bring contextual recommendations to improve an organization’s security posture. For example, by helping them to not only identify vulnerabilities but also smaller mistakes that lead to cracks in defenses.

Securing the future

All of this is good for today, but organizations need to look to the future and anticipate what is going to happen over the next months and years.

We can already see concepts like edge intelligence, TuringBots, or extended reality and organizations certainly don’t want to fall behind threat actors when they start to utilize these new technologies.

Let’s take cloud computing as an example: “A lot of companies still don’t have a cloud security strategy, but we have had cloud since 2006 and IT teams have been leveraging the cloud since then. Security teams started to take it seriously in 2016, ten years later, while still trying to treat the cloud as an emerging tech. It doesn’t really work that way,” Mr. Olufon said.

Conclusion

To sum up, the adversaries’ motivation and their capabilities are evolving, they are very good in automation and finding vulnerabilities in their targets’ systems. On the other hand, organizations often struggle with deploying automated cybersecurity solutions and don’t have a good visibility into their systems.

Especially, in case of more vulnerable organizations such as healthcare or charity organizations, all these challenges make cyber environment rather asymmetric. That is why organizations need to be smart about how they plan their defense strategies, how they adjust their budget, and how to make the most out of cybersecurity solutions they deployed.

About Version 2 Digital

Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About ESET
For 30 years, ESET® has been developing industry-leading IT security software and services for businesses and consumers worldwide. With solutions ranging from endpoint security to encryption and two-factor authentication, ESET’s high-performing, easy-to-use products give individuals and businesses the peace of mind to enjoy the full potential of their technology. ESET unobtrusively protects and monitors 24/7, updating defenses in real time to keep users safe and businesses running without interruption. Evolving threats require an evolving IT security company. Backed by R&D facilities worldwide, ESET became the first IT security company to earn 100 Virus Bulletin VB100 awards, identifying every single “in-the-wild” malware without interruption since 2003.

ESET 2024

5 Key Strategies for Zero Trust integration in Cloud Architecture

Cloud technologies dominate today’s digital landscape, so it is no surprise that cyber threats have evolved in response.

Accordingly, the Zero Trust model — built on the principle of “never trust, always verify” — has become a crucial element of cybersecurity, particularly for organizations leveraging cloud architecture. Zero Trust offers better visibility, consistent and comprehensive security, and the speed and agility necessary to combat rapidly evolving cyber threats.

I’ll explore five key strategies for integrating Zero Trust into the fabric of your cloud infrastructure, ensuring your data remains secure and your operations resilient. I’ll also delve into the criteria for assessing the impact of Zero Trust strategies on your organization.

If you’re ready to start your Zero Trust journey, get a free trial of Parallels Secure Workspace and Parallels Browser Isolation.

Key criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of Zero Trust strategies

Let’s kick off our discussion on integrating Zero Trust into cloud architecture by establishing some evaluation criteria. Consider the following three criteria to determine if an approach is effective.

1. Security

The foremost priority is to assess how well the strategy enhances the cloud environments’ security. A solid strategy prevents unauthorized access, detects threats in real time, and responds to security incidents effectively.

2. End-user experience

It’s essential to ensure that security measures do not make the user experience overly complex. Strategies should allow seamless access to necessary resources with minimal disruption to daily activities, thus maintaining or improving productivity.

3. IT admin management efficiency

Evaluate security strategies based on how they impact IT admin efficiency. The evaluation criteria include ease of deployment, ongoing management, and the ability of IT staff to maintain oversight without excessive overhead. By examining each strategy against these criteria, we can ensure that your Zero Trust approach secures the cloud environment and supports positive user experiences and efficient IT management.

1. Identity and access management (IAM)

Comprehensive IAM Solutions

The cornerstone of Zero Trust is robust identity verification. Implementing multifactor authentication (MFA), role-based access control (RBAC), and least privilege security policies ensure that only verified users have access to your network and only to the resources they need.

Identity Providers (IdPs) such as Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, and PingFederate play a crucial role in smoothly linking different apps and boosting security with OpenID Connect (OIDC). OIDC enhances authentication, allowing only authorized users access.

Effectiveness

Security. IAM enhances security by controlling access with MFA, RBAC, and least privilege policies, using IdPs like Okta for smooth app integration. For legacy systems, use tools like Parallels Secure Workspace for secure single sign-on integration. This setup enhances security by seamlessly integrating modern and legacy systems.

End-user experience. IAM can complicate access with additional security steps but streamlines it via single sign-on capabilities across applications.

IT admin management efficiency. IAM reduces IT workload by automating access control and user verification, improving administrative efficiency and system control.

Use case: Consider a healthcare provider managing access to sensitive patient records. By integrating MFA and RBAC, the provider ensures that only authorized personnel can access specific data based on their roles, significantly mitigating the risk of data breaches.

2. Network Segmentation

Microsegmentation

This strategy involves segmenting your cloud network into smaller, highly secure zones.

Employing a secure intra-network gateway enhances control over resource access within these zones, mitigating unauthorized movements across the network. If one segment is compromised, the breach’s impact remains confined to that segment alone, thus preserving the integrity of the rest of your network and safeguarding critical resources.

Effectiveness

Security. Microsegmentation confines security breaches to small areas, reducing overall risk and protecting critical network resources efficiently.

End-user experience. Minimal impact on user experience; maintains regular access to necessary resources without interruption.

IT admin management efficiency. Enhances control and simplifies network traffic monitoring, improving response to threats and maintenance efficiency.

Use case: A manufacturing firm operates two networks—a locally managed administrative network and a headquarters-controlled production network. Historically, accessing applications and data across these networks was a lot of work for local staff.

By implementing a secure intra-network gateway, the company now enables seamless and secure access to the production network, enhancing efficiency and reducing overhead. Parallels Secure Workspace serves as a secure gateway, facilitating streamlined access to data and applications on the production network. It also allows for secure, audited sharing of documents with external contacts, eliminating the need for local installations. Users can access this gateway through any browser on any device.

3. Continuous monitoring and analytics

Audit tools are essential for real-time anomaly detection and response, which is critical for maintaining transparency and enforcing dynamic security measures. These tools provide in-depth insights into user activities and potential threats.

Effectiveness

Security: Audit tools enable real-time anomaly detection and response, significantly enhancing network security and threat mitigation.

End-user experience: Minimal impact on users, maintaining system transparency while safeguarding data integrity.

IT Admin management efficiency: Improves IT productivity by automating threat detection and security responses and streamlining administrative tasks.

Use case: A financial institution uses remote browser isolation to boost security when accessing cloud-based financial tools. This approach protects against cyber threats by isolating each browsing session and monitoring usage in real time.

4. Embracing the hybrid cloud

A hybrid approach is essential for balancing security and functionality. It allows organizations to keep sensitive data and confidential operations securely on-premises, minimizing exposure to external threats while leveraging cloud solutions for less critical business operations.

This setup enhances operational flexibility, scales resources efficiently, and ensures compliance with data protection regulations, providing a strategic mix of security and accessibility to meet diverse business needs.

Effectiveness

Security. Keeps sensitive data on-premises, reducing exposure to external threats while using cloud resources for less critical tasks.

End-user experience. Enhances flexibility and accessibility, seamlessly integrating on-premises and cloud resources for a smoother user experience. Utilizing Parallels Secure Workspace further elevates this by offering a unified workspace where users can access both on-premises and cloud applications through a single platform, simplifying navigation and improving productivity.

IT admin management efficiency. Improves resource scalability and compliance management, streamlining operations and ensuring data protection efficiently.

Use case: An e-commerce company employs a secure workspace solution to integrate its on-premises inventory management with cloud-based customer service applications. This strategy ensures seamless and secure access, enabling the company to manage sensitive data internally while leveraging the cloud for less critical operations.

5. Enhancing the user experience with a browser-based unified secure workspace

With the rise of remote work and the proliferation of SaaS and web applications, users need a reliable, simple way to access their work tools.

The Zero Trust model can extend through an entire virtual workspace, resulting in a unified access gateway that facilitates secure, browser-based access to business applications, SaaS platforms, web apps, and even entire desktops, all without the need to install any new software. This solution ensures that users experience frictionless access to their applications while maintaining high-security standards.

Effectiveness

Security. Extends Zero Trust to virtual workspaces, ensuring high security across all accessed applications without additional installations.

End-user experience. Offers smooth, browser-based access to work tools from any browser, on any device, and from anywhere, boosting convenience and productivity for remote work.

IT admin management efficiency or productivity. Reduces IT workload related to software installations and updates, streamlining application access management.

Use case: Consider the needs of a multinational corporation with employees spread across various regions, including remote and on-site workers. By implementing a unified secure workspace solution, the company allows its employees to securely access essential financial, HR, and operational cloud applications via any web browser.

This capability is particularly advantageous during travel or when employees log in via insecure public networks. This seamless integration ensures that all employees, regardless of location or device, have consistent and secure access to their work environments.

Why Zero Trust is essential for cloud architecture

Integrating Zero Trust into your cloud architecture is a necessity, not just a nice-to-have upgrade. By applying these five strategies, organizations can thoroughly protect their data and infrastructure, transforming their cloud environments into secure digital strongholds.

Tools like Parallels Secure Workspace and Parallels Browser Isolation empower your organization to address immediate security challenges while building a more secure and resilient digital future.

About Version 2 Digital

Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About Parallels
Parallels® is a global leader in cross-platform solutions, enabling businesses and individuals to access and use the applications and files they need on any device or operating system. Parallels helps customers leverage the best technology available, whether it’s Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android or the cloud.

Parallels 2024

Keepit receives third consecutive Customer Top Rated Award from TrustRadius

Keepit has been recognized as a leader among SaaS Backup, Data Loss Prevention, Disaster Recovery, and Enterprise Backup categories.

Copenhagen, Denmark – May 10 – Keepit, a global leader in SaaS data backup and recovery, today announced that it has been recognized as TrustRadius Top Rated in four categories: SaaS Backup, Data Loss Prevention, Disaster Recovery and Enterprise Backup. This recognition comes directly from customers, underscoring Keepit’s commitment to providing an effortless and secure backup and recovery platform.

“Keepit earning a TrustRadius Top Rated award is a testament to the overwhelmingly positive feedback captured in their customer reviews. This recognition highlights Keepit’s commitment to delivering exceptional cloud data protection solutions. We congratulate Keepit on this well-deserved honor and commend them for their dedication to exceeding customer expectations, empowering businesses, and providing outstanding data protection services”, says Allyson Havener, SVP of Marketing & Community, TrustRadius.

Since 2016, the TrustRadius Top Rated Awards have become the B2B’s industry standard for unbiased recognition of excellent technology products. Based entirely on customer feedback, they have never been influenced by analyst opinion or status as a TrustRadius customer. Here is a detailed criteria breakdown of the methodology and scoring that TrustRadius uses to determine Top Rated winners.

“For Keepit, this is one of the most valuable categories of awards we can receive,” says Michele Hayes, CMO at Keepit. “An award based on customer praise reinforces that Keepit is delivering on its promise to support our customers globally with leading backup services characterized by security, efficiency and simplicity.”

About Version 2 Digital

Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About Keepit
At Keepit, we believe in a digital future where all software is delivered as a service. Keepit’s mission is to protect data in the cloud Keepit is a software company specializing in Cloud-to-Cloud data backup and recovery. Deriving from +20 year experience in building best-in-class data protection and hosting services, Keepit is pioneering the way to secure and protect cloud data at scale.

Keepit 2024

Stress-free travel with Nord Security’s new eSIM – Saily

Picture the scene: After a long flight, you arrive in a distant land. Dragging your suitcase through the airport terminal, you notice the long lines at the SIM card booths. It might be a while before you can explore the city. There’s got to be a better way, you think…

After months of behind-the-scenes development, Nord Security unveiled Saily, a new eSIM product designed with travelers and explorers in mind. We’re bringing our expertise in user-friendly, powerful cybersecurity tools to an everyday product that simplifies travel, reduces environmental impact, and avoids unexpected roaming costs for our customers.

So let’s explore the what and why of Saily:

What are SIMs?

SIM is an acronym for Subscriber Identity Module, a key part in mobile devices that identifies and authenticates users.
The traditional SIM card is a microprocessor chip on a removable plastic card placed inside the phone.
SIM cards are preprogrammed and distributed by phone plan carriers to identify customers and allow them to connect to the mobile network.
If a customer changes carriers, they have to swap out SIMs manually.

What are eSIMs?

Short for ‘embedded SIM’.
An eSIM is a memory chip (processing is moved to the phone) placed on a card built into your phone. Not removable.
User and subscription information is stored on eSIMs, but users can manage and replace their profiles as needed.
An eSIM, therefore, is the more digitized, flexible evolution of traditional SIMs. Imagine a digital vs. physical ticket or boarding pass.

4 reasons Saily is the best eSIM for travelers

With the technical stuff out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the main user advantages of eSIMs, and why Saily is the best pick for explorers and adventurers in need of speedy internet access.

Effortless installation & support

No more poking paper clips into your SIM card slot. With Saily, you’ll be able to smoothly change or add phone plans by scanning a QR code or following a simple app. No need to juggle between multiple SIMs while on the go. Saily also offers round-the-clock support, in the unlikely case you run into any activation issues. We’re here to help, 24/7 – whether you’re on the beach in Brazil or the Shibuya crossing in Tokyo.

Smooth travel and connectivity

With Saily, users can find the best data plans in over 150 countries – and enjoy easy and safer internet access wherever they go. Buy your plan in advance, and you’ll avoid any surprise roaming charges that sneak up on you as you get accustomed to your new surroundings. You’re connected from the moment you land. No need to line up in the airports either, just head straight for your hotel or hit the streets!

Reduced environmental impact

The difference in environmental impact is huge. Currently, approximately 4.5 billion plastic SIM cards are manufactured every year. According to a 2022 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), “eSIM technology scored 46 percent lower in carbon emissions when compared to traditional SIM cards. While the production of a traditional SIM emits a reported 229g CO2 equivalent through all of its life cycle phases (production, transport, usage, end device hardware and End of Life), an eSIM emits only 123g CO2 equivalent.”

More security when traveling

It’s common knowledge: using public Wi-Fi is risky. Add in the stress and fatigue that comes with travel, and people easily become forgetful or careless when it comes to security. According to recent studies published by Forbes Advisor, 40% of individuals have experienced a breach in their online security while accessing public Wi-Fi networks while traveling.

Of course, a VPN is already a powerful protective layer if you’re connecting to a public network. But as Vykintas Maknickas, Head of Product Strategy at Nord Security, puts it: “When traveling, you want to have continuous access to the internet, but that’s not always easy. Even if there’s a coffee shop nearby with an open Wi-Fi network, you don’t want to risk exposing your device to a network you’re not sure is secure. Saily will ensure you don’t need to use public Wi-Fi networks that you don’t trust to access the internet.”

Are you inspired by innovation and the challenge of connecting the world? Engineers, designers, QAs, marketers – join the Saily crew in building technology that enables reliable, consistent internet access to travelers and explorers worldwide. Check out our open positions here.

About Version 2 Digital

Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About NordPass
NordPass is developed by Nord Security, a company leading the global market of cybersecurity products.

The web has become a chaotic space where safety and trust have been compromised by cybercrime and data protection issues. Therefore, our team has a global mission to shape a more trusted and peaceful online future for people everywhere.

Nord Security NordPass 2024