As the workplace continues to evolve in 2025, remote and hybrid work models remain the norm. While these models provide flexibility, they also introduce significant challenges for employers, particularly in maintaining data security, compliance and employee productivity from home offices or utilizing personal devices. While outsourcing to an inbound and outbound call center partner like AnswerNet offers enhanced security and data privacy controls for businesses, your internal remote employees (especially ones who use their own personal computer) are still a huge point of exposure!
AnswerNet’s Secure Access for Remote Employees (SAFRE) system addresses these challenges, offering a cutting-edge solution for businesses navigating this new reality internally or with outsourcing partners that require access to secure business systems.
Does your business have a scalable plan to resolve the risks and inefficiencies that remote work creates?
Benefits for Employers and Employees
For Employers:
SAFRE ensures compliance, mitigates cybersecurity risks and centralizes IT management, providing peace of mind in today’s complex work environment.
For Employees:
It simplifies secure access, maintains personal privacy and protects against cyber threats—all while enabling them to work flexibly and productively from anywhere.
And not all remote employees are doing what they’re supposed to be doing!
This is the scary bit—there are evolving scams and fraudulent activities perpetrated by some remote employees. Employers must stay vigilant and implement robust measures to mitigate these risks and remove bad actors.
Here are some of the prevalent scams remote employees are engaging in:
1. Double-Dipping Employment (Overemployment Fraud)
- Description: Employees secretly hold multiple full-time remote jobs, performing minimal tasks for each without notifying their employers.
- Impact: Reduced productivity, conflicts of interest and quality issues.
- Prevention: Use performance management and access tools (like SAFRE) and clarify exclusivity requirements in employment contracts.
2. Proxy Employment Fraud
- Description: Employees hire third parties, often overseas, to perform their job duties while pretending to work themselves.
- Impact: Security risks, reduced quality of work and breaches of confidentiality.
- Prevention: Require video meetings, implement two-factor authentication, control access by verifiable IP address and verify identities through biometrics.
3. Time Theft Through Automation
- Description: Employees use bots or automation tools to complete tasks while claiming full-time hours for minimal effort. Ever hear of mouse jigglers? Last year, Wells Fargo reportedly laid off dozens of employees for falsifying their production metrics through this technology.
- Impact: Misrepresentation of productivity and inflated payroll costs.
- Prevention: Monitor task quality, direct remote observation and conduct random reviews of work processes.
4. Ghosting During Work Hours
- Description: Employees clock in but engage in personal activities or freelance work during paid hours.
- Impact: Reduced efficiency and unmet deadlines.
- Prevention: Use time-tracking software and focus on outcome-based performance reviews.
5. Data Leaks and IP Theft
- Description: Employees sell or share sensitive company data, such as customer information, trade secrets or intellectual property, to competitors or on the dark web.
- Impact: Reputation damage, financial losses and legal liabilities.
- Prevention: Use data encryption, limit access based on roles and implement stringent monitoring systems for sensitive files.
These next two came to prominence back in 2020 when the pandemic was in full swing . . .
6. Fake IT or Support Tickets
- Description: Employees submit false technical issues or support requests to avoid work or create downtime for themselves.
- Impact: Disruption to operations and wasted IT resources.
- Prevention: Cross-check ticket history and track resolution patterns to identify anomalies.
7. Faking Internet or Equipment Issues
- Description: Employees claim connectivity problems or faulty equipment to avoid meetings or deadlines.
- Impact: Missed deliverables and delays in collaboration.
- Prevention: Use logging systems to verify connection uptime and set clear expectations for tech issue reporting.
8. Manipulating KPI Reporting
- Description: Employees inflate their productivity metrics or falsify achievements in key performance indicators.
- Impact: Misleading data affecting business decisions and resource allocation.
- Prevention: Regularly audit performance metrics and conduct peer reviews.
9. Deepfake and Voice Cloning Fraud
- Description: Employees use deepfake video or voice cloning to fake attendance in meetings or phone calls.
- Impact: Breaches of trust and potential exposure to security risks.
- Prevention: Require live interaction in meetings with randomized prompts to confirm presence.
Any of the above scenarios could have easily been avoided with simple-to-deploy employee access software like SAFRE that prevents double-dipping and provides remote access that helps track, benchmark and limit specific activities.
Secure Access for Remote Employees Does More than Prevent Fraud and Data Breaches
Secure access isn’t just a preventative measure—it simplifies the work environment for remote employees and lets them use their preferred devices. In 2025, bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies are a valuable perk for tech-savvy professionals, enhancing flexibility and satisfaction. By providing remote access to company applications, IT teams can efficiently make global updates, manage access in real time and troubleshoot individual issues. This eliminates access and credentialing frustrations, streamlining the employee experience: a true win-win!
Common Questions
Q: Isn’t my company VPN enough?
A: No. While a VPN secures entry into your business systems, it doesn’t control the device’s access to applications, hardware or accessories. True secure access requires comprehensive control over how the device interacts with your business environment.
Q: Is SAFRE a Virtual Desktop Interface (VDI)?
A: Not exactly. SAFRE goes beyond traditional VDI by creating a secure, controlled access point that partitions business activities from personal use. In “work mode,” employees can access approved company platforms and sites, while being restricted from prohibited apps, sites and device functions. All this is achieved without modifying the device or requiring employees to host business applications locally.
Why SAFRE Matters More Than Ever in 2025
1. Remote Work is Here to Stay:
With a growing number of employees working from home or in hybrid roles, businesses must secure corporate data without sacrificing employee privacy. SAFRE provides a dual persona environment, ensuring corporate data remains isolated from personal applications and files.
2. Rising Cybersecurity Threats:
Cyberattacks on remote workers’ devices have increased dramatically. SAFRE neutralizes these threats with robust malware protection, encrypted storage and strict access controls, safeguarding both company and employee data.
3. Stringent Compliance Requirements:
Industries like healthcare, education, finance and retail face increased scrutiny under regulations like HIPAA, PCI DSS, FERPA, CCPA and GDPR. SAFRE supports compliance by encrypting data, restricting access and ensuring no residual corporate data remains on personal devices after a session ends.
4. Cost-Effective BYOD Enablement:
Employers increasingly favor BYOD policies to reduce hardware costs. SAFRE transforms personal devices into secure workspaces without requiring major IT overhauls or invasive installations.
What Makes SAFRE Unique?
Dual Persona Technology:
SAFRE creates a clear boundary between work and personal environments. Employees can access corporate resources without compromising their personal privacy and employers can manage workspaces without altering personal devices.
Seamless User Experience:
With a single-click setup, SAFRE eliminates the need for dual-boot systems, USB drives or complex configurations. Employees can quickly launch a secure workspace, access their tools and resume their personal activities when the session ends.
Robust Security Features:
- BitLocker-encrypted temporary drives to secure session data
- Automated data erasure upon session termination
- Role-based access control (RBAC) to restrict unauthorized use
- Whitelisting and blacklisting of apps and URLs
Flexibility Across Use Cases:
From healthcare providers accessing patient data to finance teams managing remote transactions, SAFRE supports diverse industries and their unique security needs.
Looking Ahead: Secure Workspaces in 2025
The stakes for data security and compliance in 2025 are higher than ever, making tools like SAFRE essential for modern businesses. By prioritizing secure, user-friendly solutions, AnswerNet helps organizations empower their teams while safeguarding sensitive information.
Ready to enhance your remote workforce?
Contact AnswerNet to learn how SAFRE can transform your BYOD strategy and ensure compliance in the evolving workplace.
Start today: Let AnswerNet help you better serve your remote employees who are in it for the right reasons and cut ties with scam artists in your ranks.
