How to Secure and Support Contractor-Owned Devices

Contractors and Employer of Record (EOR) employees give your team flexibility and speed, but they often show up with their own devices, i.e., hardware your IT team doesn't control, didn't configure, and can't easily inspect. That creates real operational pressure: how do you enforce security standards on equipment you don't own, across workers who may be in a dozen different countries?

The answer isn't to lock contractors out of systems or demand they use company hardware. It's to build a support model that extends consistent controls to whatever device they're using, without making their work harder. This guide walks through six steps to do that.

Step 1: Assess the risks of supporting contractor-owned devices

Contractor devices (laptops, tablets, and phones that belong to the worker, not your company) sit outside the corporate perimeter by default. Your IT team often has limited visibility into device health, patch status, security configurations, and how those devices connect to company systems. As the contractor workforce grows, these blind spots can quickly become operational and security risks.

Common challenges include:

• Limited visibility into the devices accessing company systems
• Inconsistent security configurations across workers and regions
• Difficulty verifying compliance with internal security requirements
• Delayed access removal when engagements end
• Increased exposure to data loss or unauthorized access

Traditional IT models were built around company-owned equipment. They assume physical access, centralized provisioning, and a known device inventory, none of which apply when contractors use their own hardware.

These challenges don't mean contractor-owned devices can't be supported securely. They do mean organizations need a different approach than the one traditionally used for company-owned hardware. The next step is putting controls in place that help IT teams verify device security, enforce minimum standards, and maintain visibility without taking ownership of the device itself.

Find out about the 5 things most companies get wrong about international IT logistics.

Step 2: Centralized device management for contractor security

Once you understand the risks, the next step is making sure contractor devices meet your organization's security requirements. When workers use their own hardware, IT teams need a way to verify device security, monitor compliance, and respond to issues without taking ownership of the device itself.

Mobile Device Management (MDM) should form the foundation of any contractor device security strategy. It helps organizations apply baseline security standards to contractor devices and verify that enrolled devices meet requirements such as encryption, password protection, and automated patching before they're granted access to company systems.

MDM is most effective when combined with endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools and antivirus software. Together, these technologies provide visibility into device health and security status, helping IT teams identify risks, monitor compliance, and respond to issues remotely.

To support contractor devices securely at scale, organizations should:

• Verify device compliance before granting access to company systems
• Enforce security requirements such as encryption, password protection, and automated patching
• Monitor device health and security status through endpoint protection tools
• Identify non-compliant devices through automated alerts and reporting
• Remediate issues or restrict access when devices no longer meet security requirements

Read: How automated device management improves IT compliance

Step 3: Implement secure access and network controls

Device management focuses on the security and compliance of the device itself. Access controls focus on protecting the systems and data that those devices connect to—and that's where contractor environments become more complex.

Contractors often work from home networks, shared offices, or public connections that your security team has no visibility into. Even if a device meets security requirements, organizations still need to control what resources it can access and verify that access continuously.

A Zero Trust model removes the assumption that any network, device, or user is inherently trusted. Instead, every access request is verified at the point of entry, regardless of where it originates. This makes Zero Trust particularly effective for contractor environments, where the traditional network perimeter no longer exists.

Key access and network controls include:

• VPN coverage: Encrypted connections for any access to internal systems, regardless of the network being used
• Zero Trust validation: Identity and device posture verified at every login or access request
• Network segmentation: Contractor access separated from critical systems and infrastructure where appropriate
• Least-privilege access: Contractors receive only the permissions required to perform their role

Layering Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on top of these controls helps ensure access remains secure and can be revoked immediately when an engagement ends. This is particularly important for contractor environments, where delayed access removal remains one of the most common and preventable security risks.

Read: What happens when access isn't revoked on time

Step 4: Enabling proactive remote support and monitoring

Even with secure devices and strong access controls in place, issues still occur. Devices fail, software breaks, and security risks emerge over time. By the time a contractor in one region notices an issue and opens a ticket, the problem has already interrupted their work, and your IT team is scrambling to debug something they didn't see coming.

Proactive monitoring changes that dynamic. Continuous device health checks surface performance degradation and security anomalies before they become incidents. Automated alerts route issues to IT staff immediately, and remote troubleshooting tools mean technicians can resolve most problems without shipping anything or waiting for a callback.

A proactive support model typically includes:

• Continuous monitoring to identify performance, security, and compliance issues early
• Automated alerts that notify IT teams when intervention is required
• Remote troubleshooting tools that allow technicians to resolve issues without physical access to the device
• Reporting and analytics that help improve future monitoring and support processes

Standardized processes and predictive maintenance consistently reduce recurring issues over time, and the visibility gained from continuous monitoring makes audit preparation far less painful.
Learn how to manage remote IT support.

Step 5: Formalize security requirements through policies and lifecycle workflows

Technology can help enforce security standards, but contractors still need clear guidance on what's expected of them. Documenting these requirements helps create consistency across devices, locations, and contractor types.

A contractor device policy should cover:

• Approved device types and minimum operating system versions
• Required security standards and compliance requirements
• Rules for how company data is stored, transmitted, and deleted
• Contractor responsibilities for updates, backups, and incident reporting

These requirements should be incorporated into onboarding and offboarding processes. During onboarding, contractors should review security requirements, enroll their devices where required, and receive the appropriate system access. During offboarding, access should be removed, company data handled according to policy, and any outstanding security requirements completed.

Combining clear policies with standardized lifecycle processes helps ensure security requirements are applied consistently throughout the contractor engagement.

Download: Onboarding & Offboarding Guide for Distributed Teams

Step 6: Scale IT support as your contractor workforce grows

The controls and processes covered in the previous steps help secure contractor-owned devices, but they also create ongoing support responsibilities. Devices need to be monitored, compliance issues investigated, access requests managed, and technical problems resolved. As contractor populations grow, maintaining a consistent support experience becomes increasingly challenging.

Whether support is managed internally, through external partners, or with a hybrid approach, the goal is the same: ensuring contractors can get help quickly while maintaining security and compliance standards.

When evaluating how to scale IT support for distributed contractor teams, consider:

The right support model should enable organizations to maintain security, compliance, and productivity as their contractor workforce expands, without creating unnecessary operational complexity.

Here are the key benefits of 24/7 IT support for distributed teams.

Support contractor and EOR employee devices with Deel IT

Supporting contractor and EOR employee devices securely often requires multiple tools for device management, security, access control, support, and compliance. Deel IT brings these capabilities together in a single platform, helping organizations secure devices, automate IT operations, and maintain visibility throughout the worker lifecycle.

• Automated onboarding from day one: Deel IT connects HR events to IT workflows, automatically triggering device enrollment, access provisioning, and policy enforcement when a contractor or EOR employee joins your organization
• Cross-platform device management: Powered by JumpCloud, Deel IT helps enforce encryption, password policies, and patch compliance across macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android devices, including personal devices enrolled in MDM for secure access to company systems
• Continuous endpoint monitoring and protection: CrowdStrike Falcon provides real-time threat detection and endpoint visibility, helping IT teams identify and respond to security risks across distributed devices
• Automated access management: Access management workflows tie system access to worker status, helping ensure permissions are granted, updated, and removed automatically throughout the engagement lifecycle
• Global device provisioning when company hardware is required: For organizations that provide devices to contractors or employees, Deel IT supports device procurement, deployment, recovery, and logistics across 130+ countries
• 24/7 support for distributed teams: Workers can access support regardless of location or time zone, helping reduce downtime and maintain productivity
• Audit-ready visibility and reporting: Centralized dashboards provide insight into device compliance, access activity, and policy status, helping organizations maintain oversight and prepare for audits more efficiently

Book a demo to find out more.