When the office was a place, security was simpler. Everyone logged in from the same network, used managed devices, and worked during predictable hours. IT teams could focus on hardening the perimeter and trusting what happened inside.
Hybrid work changed that. Now employees connect from home networks with questionable security, personal devices loaded with family photos and gaming software, and locations that change by the hour. Six in 10 employees with remote-capable jobs want a hybrid work arrangement, but most access controls still assume everyone’s sitting behind the same firewall.
Smart organizations are rebuilding access control from the ground up with hybrid work in mind. They’re finding ways to verify trust dynamically, grant access based on need rather than location, and maintain security without sacrificing productivity.
Finding Your Current Access Control Gaps
Before implementing any new security measures, take inventory of what you’re actually trying to protect and where your biggest vulnerabilities lie. Most organizations discover they have more access control gaps than they realized once employees started working from everywhere.
Start by mapping out your current access patterns. Who needs access to what systems, from which locations, and at what times? Look for patterns that create the highest security risks: employees with permanent admin rights who don’t actually need them day-to-day, or VPN connections that grant broader network access than necessary
Hybrid work amplifies existing access control challenges rather than creating entirely new ones. If your admin rights management was unclear when everyone worked in the office, it becomes a bigger security risk when people work from home networks you don’t control.
Device Trust Gets Complicated
Managing access when you control the devices is straightforward. Corporate laptops get standard configurations, regular updates, and endpoint protection. You know what software is installed and how the security policies are configured.
Hybrid work makes device management exponentially more complex. Employees might use corporate laptops from home networks, personal devices for work tasks, or a mix of both depending on what they’re doing. Nearly half of employees now think of their work laptops as personal devices. This leads to risky behaviors like:
- Sharing devices with family members
- Installing unauthorized software
- Using personal accounts for work tasks
- Mixing work and personal data
The traditional response has been to lock down devices with restrictive policies that prevent users from installing anything. This creates productivity bottlenecks when employees need legitimate software to do their jobs. Alternatively, organizations give users broad permissions that create security risks when those same privileges get inherited by malware.
Just-in-time privilege elevation through solutions like Admin By Request EPM offers a better approach. Instead of permanent permissions, it grants temporary elevated access for specific tasks, then removes those privileges automatically. Users can install approved software when they need it without requiring help desk tickets or creating permanent security risks.
Rethinking Remote Access
Traditional remote access relies heavily on VPNs, but they create bottlenecks when hundreds of employees connect simultaneously and give users broad network access when they only need specific applications. VPN vulnerabilities are becoming attractive targets for attackers, with 56% of organizations reporting VPN-exploited breaches last year.
Modern secure remote access focuses on application-level permissions rather than network-level access. Instead of giving someone a tunnel into your entire network, you provide secure access to specific applications they need. Browser-based access eliminates the need for complex client software while providing session recording, approval workflows, and automatic session termination.
This approach works well for specific remote access scenarios that VPNs handle poorly:
- Remote Support for IT teams to help end users regardless of location
- Unattended Access for secure connections to servers and workstations when no user is present
- Vendor Access for giving third-party contractors temporary, scoped access to specific systems
Admin By Request’s Secure Remote Access solution addresses these use cases without requiring persistent VPN tunnels or complex firewall configurations. Connections are established on-demand for specific tasks, then terminated automatically when the work is complete. This makes it ideal for distributed teams that need flexible, secure access without the overhead of traditional remote access infrastructure.
Approval Workflows That Don’t Block Productivity
One of the biggest challenges with distributed teams is handling approval workflows when people work across different time zones and schedules. Traditional approaches that require manual approval for access requests create bottlenecks that can halt productivity when approvers aren’t available.
Effective approval workflows balance security with operational needs by automating routine decisions while escalating unusual requests appropriately. Low-risk access happens automatically based on predefined policies, while high-risk scenarios trigger manual review from appropriate personnel.
The policies can account for context and risk factors:
- Installing pre-approved software from a trusted device during business hours might be automatic
- The same request from an unmanaged device or outside normal hours requires manual approval
- Emergency procedures ensure critical business needs can be addressed even when normal approval workflows aren’t available
Machine learning can help reduce administrative overhead by automatically approving applications that have been manually approved multiple times in the past. AI-based approval systems can also automatically approve applications based on popularity scores and vendor reputation. This helps organizations adapt to changing software needs without constantly updating policies.
Building Practical Security for Distributed Teams
The most successful hybrid workforce security strategies focus on practical implementation rather than theoretical perfection. They start with the highest-risk scenarios and build robust controls around those, then expand to cover additional use cases over time.
- Start with administrative privileges – These create the biggest security risks when compromised but are also essential for productivity. Implementing just-in-time privilege elevation addresses both concerns while building the foundation for more advanced controls.
- Focus on application access – Rather than trying to secure entire networks, concentrate on securing access to specific applications and data that actually matter to your business.
- Build approval workflows that scale – Design processes that can handle routine decisions automatically while ensuring human oversight for genuinely risky scenarios.
- Plan for offline scenarios – Distributed teams often work without reliable internet connectivity. Security controls need to function whether devices are online or offline.
- Monitor and adapt – Use comprehensive logging to understand how access controls are working in practice, then adjust policies based on real usage patterns rather than theoretical models.
Make Hybrid Work for You
Hybrid work isn’t going back in the box. Organizations that adapt their access controls to this reality will have more secure, productive teams. Those that keep trying to force square pegs into round holes will keep dealing with the same security incidents and productivity bottlenecks.
Admin By Request’s solutions handle the two biggest hybrid workforce challenges: managing admin rights and providing secure remote access without VPN headaches. Both integrate with existing systems and work whether your teams are online or offline.
Try them free on up to 25 seats and see how they work for your distributed teams.
