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The Transition to a Remote Workforce: What You Need to Know

Introduction

Due to the Covid-19 situation, over the past two weeks there has been a huge change in the way most GC employees experience their workday. For most, teleworking means using new tools, different ways of connecting with our teams and a change in the way we share information with each other.

To date, there are many sources of information available to help support us all through this transition. The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), as well as all the individual Departments and Agencies have been helpful in quickly providing immediate information on remote working.

In this dispatch, we have rounded up information on the sometimes challenging VPN situation, some cautionary tips on avoiding fraudulent online scams when working from home, and some simple, but helpful advice on getting your teleconferences sorted.

We hope you find it useful. Watch this space for new information coming soon.

Network Etiquette and Using VPN

There are so many GC employees working remotely at the same time, so we all need to make the best use of the available bandwidth. In general, all remote workers should keep these tips in mind:  

• Only use applications that you need to do your job 
• Keep internet usage to what’s essential to do your job 
• Do not use streaming services for music or videos 
• Only use social media if needed 

Each one of us has a role to play in sharing the network. Network etiquette means we are conscientious of reducing the strain on the network. Here is a round-up of some advice to follow:

• Work off line whenever you can 
• Use mobile devices to send and receive emails 
• Connect to the VPN/SRA, get what you need from the corporate network and disconnect, which allows others to do the same 
• Limit the use of video conferencing on the network when audio conferencing will work. 
• Consult your departmental Information Management team to know what alternative repositories have been put in place for you to save, edit, and share documents, and what measures will be taken to bring them back into the designated corporate repositories.
• Download documents outside normal business hours 
• for unclassified work only, use public cloud services to collaborate with colleagues (for example: Facetime, MS Teams, Google HangOuts, Slack, etc.) 
• Use Jabber as an instant messaging tool, but avoid the video option 
• If you have one, use BlackBerry Messenger Enterprise for up to Protected B work 
• If joining a WebEx conference, consider using your personal computer or phone instead, rather than your work laptop, which must connect via the network, thereby using limited bandwidth 

• SSC has a plan to deliver extra capacity if needed. SSC will also enforce auto timeout on idle remote access (VPN) connections and will also enforce controls to limit video streaming through the networks. 

Phishing/Security

With so many of us working remotely, we need to be aware that teleworking increases the need to be vigilant with our online security.

With the Covid-19 situation underway, employees need to be aware of malicious Corona Virus phishing campaigns and malware scams on Twitter and other social media platforms. 

What is phishing? It is the act of sending mass emails that appear legitimate but contain infected attachments or malicious links. The emails are written to trick receivers into opening attachments or clicking on links that permit threat actors to obtain personal credentials or gain access to a computer system and its information.

Spear phishing uses socially engineered emails to specific targets based on personal characteristics, interests or lines of work. The messages appear to be from a credible source on subjects that are relevant to the recipient.  Everyone can be a target of phishing and spear-phishing emails, but common targets include:  

• Senior executives and their assistants 
• Help desk staff, system administrators 
• Users who have access to sensitive information 
• Users with remote access 
• Users whose jobs involve interacting with members of the public 

Avoid falling prey to spear-phishing and triggering a cyber-incident. Before opening attachments or links embedded within an email, take the following steps: 

• Make sure you know the sender of an email and that its tone is consistent with the sender. 
• Make sure that the Web address or attachment is relevant to the content of the email. 
• Make sure that the sender’s email address has a valid username and domain name. A suspicious email address could be similar to the one below: 

“John Doe <ohndoe.%nklo17er@gkmail.com>”

How do you handle malicious emails? Always maintain a high level of cyber awareness and scrutinize all emails before opening them. If you receive a suspicious email or suspect malicious activity, report the incident to your IT Service Desk and/or your Organization’s Security Team and follow their instructions. 

Making the Most of Teleconferencing

With such heavy usage over the past two weeks, our teleconferencing lines are busy! The Shared Services Canada (SSC) Government Teleconferencing Service has the following simple tips for making the most of the service for the near future.

• Start your conferences on the quarter hour (15 minutes before or after the hour), instead of on the hour or half hour.
• This will help to spread out the strain on our conferencing networks and reduce issues connecting.
• If the local number rings busy, try the toll free number, (and vice versa).
• Whenever possible host your conferences during the least busy times; before 9am, 12-1pm, after 4pm, Eastern Time.

Do you need additional teleconferencing lines on your account?

Did you know that every audio conferencing account is able to have up to 200 lines connected per call. Here is how to get new accounts arranged.

• You can request new accounts be set up for yourself or other members of your team via our online request form: www.gocconference.com/accounts/?lang=en
• Once created, the new account details will be sent to the Moderator via email.
• Please be patient. There may be a delay in processing the request due to the high volume of requests being submitted. Rest assured that we are well staffed, requests for new accounts are being given priority, and we are doing everything possible to reduce the wait!