Remote Access Virus Risk?

acidjazz09 · 07-05-2009, 04:39 PM

Hi, new here - hope this is the right board for this question...

If a business were to set up remote desktop access for homeworkers, (for the purpose of them viewing & possibly downloading files, the homeworkers would not be sending anything back in via the connection) is the businesses network safe?

Ie. if the homeworker had any kind of viruses on their PC, could they unwittingly transfer in just by accessing via the static IP?

Thanks

acidjazz09 · 07-07-2009, 02:06 PM

bump :)

snedie · 07-07-2009, 03:29 PM

Now, where to start...

Any business that is considering a remote access network topology should be very concerned about unauthorised intrusion into there network. In my opinion you are looking at this from the wrong angle, as viruses and trojans rarely use direct network connections to transfer as it is to obvious and instead rely on emails and IM programs etc. so simply placing a decent anti virus on the server will prevent viruses and such like from taking a hold (NOD32 is my prefered choice for business servers).

Now where the risk lies is in a hacker intruding onto your network through open ports, security holes in software and more commonly weak passwords. People tend to not bother changing defualt passwords thinking that they are invincible behind there £40 router/firewall.

I suggest that you purchase some form of a VPN device, now this could be a consumer market grade device that costs around £100-150 or an enterprise level device at £3-8k. Of course it would be rather silly to pay that kind of cash, so i reccomend spending around £200 for a 25 computer network expecting around 10-40 VPN connections at any given time.

So, what's a vpn your probably asking. A Virtual Private Network is a secure 'Tunnel' accross the internet that encrypts you data, authenticates users and provides data intergrity protocols to ensure data is not modified between endpoints. Modern VPN protocols have made it virtually impossible for an intruder to access traveling information.

Now there are many protocols available to you, each with there upsides and downs. I suggest using google for some more information about VPN's, or even better try and get a technician in that can perform the work for you.

Hope the helps,
Snedie

07-05-2009, 04:39 PM	#1 (permalink)
acidjazz09 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 2 OS: XP	Remote Access Virus Risk? Hi, new here - hope this is the right board for this question... If a business were to set up remote desktop access for homeworkers, (for the purpose of them viewing & possibly downloading files, the homeworkers would not be sending anything back in via the connection) is the businesses network safe? Ie. if the homeworker had any kind of viruses on their PC, could they unwittingly transfer in just by accessing via the static IP? Thanks

07-07-2009, 02:06 PM	#2 (permalink)
acidjazz09 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 2 OS: XP	Re: Remote Access Virus Risk? bump :)

07-07-2009, 03:29 PM	#3 (permalink)
snedie Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: UK Posts: 137 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64	Re: Remote Access Virus Risk? Now, where to start... Any business that is considering a remote access network topology should be very concerned about unauthorised intrusion into there network. In my opinion you are looking at this from the wrong angle, as viruses and trojans rarely use direct network connections to transfer as it is to obvious and instead rely on emails and IM programs etc. so simply placing a decent anti virus on the server will prevent viruses and such like from taking a hold (NOD32 is my prefered choice for business servers). Now where the risk lies is in a hacker intruding onto your network through open ports, security holes in software and more commonly weak passwords. People tend to not bother changing defualt passwords thinking that they are invincible behind there £40 router/firewall. I suggest that you purchase some form of a VPN device, now this could be a consumer market grade device that costs around £100-150 or an enterprise level device at £3-8k. Of course it would be rather silly to pay that kind of cash, so i reccomend spending around £200 for a 25 computer network expecting around 10-40 VPN connections at any given time. So, what's a vpn your probably asking. A Virtual Private Network is a secure 'Tunnel' accross the internet that encrypts you data, authenticates users and provides data intergrity protocols to ensure data is not modified between endpoints. Modern VPN protocols have made it virtually impossible for an intruder to access traveling information. Now there are many protocols available to you, each with there upsides and downs. I suggest using google for some more information about VPN's, or even better try and get a technician in that can perform the work for you. Hope the helps, Snedie