With more and more people working remotely these days,
it's as important as ever to keep you
and your company's data safe. Around 90% of data breaches
are caused by human error.
So with that said, here are some examples of the security risks
that come with working from home and how to solve them.
The most obvious risks are physical.
It's much easier to have a laptop or phone stolen
than a desktop computer that's permanently
located in your office.
When working from public places.
Never leave your devices unattended.
Always keep your devices within reach.
Put them away and take them with you,
even if you plan to only get up for a second.
Be sure to also watch out for looky-loos peering
at your screen. Avoid working in areas
where people can look over your shoulder, such as in front
of windows or in the middle of a cafe.
Even when you're working from home,
be vigilant about children and pets.
They can easily delete work by accident or access files that
shouldn't be tampered with.
It's good practice to create separate accounts for work
and personal use with different passwords for each,
and to get in the habit of locking your screen when you
walk away from your computer.
You can even place your computer in a locked cabinet
or room for extra safety when you aren't working.
The less obvious risks are digital
and can come in many forms.
Many personal computers may not have
the proper anti-virus and anti-malware software
installed.
This can leave you wide open to phishing scams and hackers
hijacking information.
Whether you're using your personal computer or work
computer,
the best method here is to never open emails from people
you don't trust or click on links
or open attachments that seem suspicious.
You should also always use company approved software
for your work.
Not all software is developed with the same security
standards and third party software
can easily compromise the security of your device.
Password security is also extremely important
leaving posts with passwords attached to your monitor
or reusing the same password for all of your accounts
is like having no password at all.
It's best practice to use a password manager, which
makes it easy to create and update
strong individual passwords for all of your accounts.
Just remember that the password manager software you use
should be approved by your company ahead of time.
Lastly, whether you're connecting to the internet
through a private home network or a public shared network
VPNs are the best method to keep you as secure as possible VPNs
work by routing all of the data coming from your computer
through a private server, essentially blocking
any unwanted visitors that may be connected
to the same network. Follow these guidelines while working
remotely to ensure you work as securely as possible.