Working from home is a welcomed employee perk that offers workers the chance to free themselves from the daily commute to work. It’s a convenient and effective arrangement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees can prevent the spread of the virus by working from home without compromising and sacrificing their performance or health.
While most companies have tight security protocols to protect their employees and equipment from cyber threats, you don’t enjoy such benefits when working from home. If you work for a big company, your employer might have a plan in place to protect company data. But then, if you do freelance work, you’re on your own to work out a strategy to protect your work from Internet threats.
In either case, here are tips on how you can protect your computer when working remotely.
Secure your computer.
If you’re working from home because of the pandemic, then chances are you’ll be converting your personal computer to a work computer. This means that if you’ve been slacking on updating your computer, then this is the time to make sure that your antivirus is up to date and fully enabled. You wouldn’t want to risk any company data.
Ensure that your computer is also set to receive all security updates, especially Windows updates. These will ensure that your work isn’t at risk. If you’re lucky enough and have set up a home office, good for you, but for those working off the couch or on the dining table, ensure that you lock the computer once you leave it to stretch or get a snack. This is crucial when you have kids or friends around. Set up a reasonably strong password to keep all your work protected.
Secure your network.
You may not care if a neighbor uses your Wi-Fi, but it gets risky when you allow strangers into your network, containing your company work. If you’re still using the same login credentials from when you got connected, then it’s time to change them. Lists of logins for routers are easily accessible on the Internet, and hackers can quickly get into your network and steal company information. Also, ensure that you avoid using unsecured public Wi-Fi; this puts your information at risk. If you haven’t connected Wi-Fi to your home, do so. You can compare Internet deals from different Internet service providers, and choose the one that fits your budget.
Some companies may provide you with a VPN to log in to the company’s network. This will also make your computer part of the company network and give the computer access. Remember that your Internet traffic goes through your employer’s servers when you have access to the company’s corporate VPN. You’d be wise to refrain from accessing sketchy sites when you’re on the company’s VPN.
If you’re a freelancer working on your own from home, you can buy a VPN to protect your data. Check out the many different VPNs available on the market, and choose the one that fits your budget.
If you deal with very sensitive information from work, you can split your home network. You can keep your personal computer and related devices on the home network, and then connect the family phones and other Internet devices on the guest network.
Secure your communications.
Email can be insecure, but the IT department can impose some protection when communicating through the company network. If you’re using your email, you’re more exposed; you can use an email encryption service for security. When sharing sensitive information to corporate via email, consider sending a request to implement encryption to ensure safety.
When you’re at the office, it’s easier to drop by a colleague’s desk when you want to ask something, but when working from home and you need something, general messaging isn’t secure. However, you can agree on forming a group where there’s free, safe, and encrypted communication between you.
For video conferencing and meetings, if you want to avoid snooping or Zoom bombing, ensure that the sessions are protected, especially if you’re hosting the meeting.
Secure your data.
If your personal computer from home still doubles up as the computer the kids use for online learning or gaming, you can minimize the possibilities of slopping over by creating different user accounts for each family member. Windows 10 has the option of adding a child or an adult to its program. If you choose to add a child, you’ll have more control over the account.
Moreover, a child account lacks the permissions to allow a young, competent adult to snoop in your work data. If you have a Macbook, you can create a standard account with limited privileges. You can create different accounts for your work, and another for your personal use for more protection. Keep your work data in an encrypted vault to keep out hackers.
Secure your passwords.
It’s recommended to set strong passwords to protect your information. You should ensure that you use different passwords to access various sites and apps. Most importantly, you shouldn’t use the same password to access your work account and personal account. Of course, there’s no way to cram all those different passwords; that’s why you need a password manager.
Some password managers let you create different password collections, say one for work and one for your accounts. For sensitive business, you can enable two-factor authentication (2FA). The technology ensures that anyone who logs in using your password must use a second factor to log in like a question. Without the answer to the question, the password is useless.
You can avoid unintentional data breaches by setting basic rules for yourself, your kids, and anyone else in the house. If you follow the simple guidelines outlined above, maybe your employer will suffer a data breach while employees work remotely, but it won’t be your fault.
