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This year has been tough on many industries. The pandemic has made people practice social or physical distancing and this is why more and more companies are embracing the concept of the work-from-home or remote working setup. Even big companies are starting to implement this to help contain the virus and keep their employees safe.
Working from home is the best option for people nowadays. This can make employees vulnerable to cybercrimes or cyberattacks like phishing and hacking. Hackers do such attacks to obtain sensitive data or any other kind of information from an employee.
This is why companies have always been hesitant to allow people to work at home. Company offices have secure networks and strong cybersecurity. However, now that remote setups are necessary, employees should do their best to be cyber secure. This protects them and their company from cybercriminals. Here are some security tips applicable to work from home employees.
Encrypt your communication
Working from home is convenient since you get to skip on commuting time and traveling to the office. You also can easily cook up a meal, order takeaway from the comfort of your home. The challenge that most employees are not so aware of is that if you browse the internet from home, you are most likely doing so through an unencrypted network. The issue with this is that when you surf the internet through an unencrypted home network, your digital footprint and online activities are exposed to malicious parties. This means that cybercriminals or malicious threat actors would be able to spy on your online traffic and private data using different types of hacking tools.
To avoid becoming a victim of such cybercriminals, you should use a tool such as VPN to encrypt your internet network. A VPN helps by encrypting your digital or online activities. This means that whatever you do online can’t be tracked or traced by anybody on the internet. Using a VPN encrypts your line of communication and allows you to securely surf the web.
Be vigilant of phishing activities
As more people work at home, the more people are checking their emails with an unencrypted network. Cybercriminals are taking advantage of this and are sending out bait emails to steal information from the employees. With this, they could get not only your personal information and data but also company information that you have in your accounts and your computer.
To avoid this, make sure that you don’t click on any links on emails that are suspicious. Some would attach files that could damage your drives and some would link you to a website that could trick you into giving out information. Always make sure that you’re only clicking on official links or websites of companies. Look for misspellings on the email and the website. Never use your login credentials on unofficial sites.
Use an antivirus software
Any time you open a website, an email, or a file could potentially expose you to viruses and malware. This could damage your files or your drive. This could also be the cause of data theft and other cyberattacks.
The best way to avoid this is to install antivirus software on your computer and even your mobile devices where you also do your work-related matters. Check with your company if they could provide this for you. If not, there are still free and efficient antivirus software that you can download on your own. This is something that you can use even if you’re doing non-work activities.
Don’t ignore software updates
Every once in a while, you get notifications on updates to the software you’re using or the device that you have. While this could disturb the work that you are doing for a short while, know that this is something you should just get through with.
If your company advises you that a system or software update has to be done with your work PC, comply immediately. The updates that you install could include patches for security vulnerabilities that were uncovered since the last update. This means that you’ll be more cyber secured with the latest updates you install.
Backup your data
If you do encounter a virus or malware attack, it is possible that you will lose your files or that your files will get corrupted. If you don’t back your files up, then you will no longer be able to retrieve them. This is why as much as possible, you should back up your files and data. Even if you lose your files and data because of a cyberattack, you can easily restore them with your backup.
Conclusion
These are just a few tips that you should follow especially if you’re on a work from home setup. Encrypting your network, being vigilant about phishing emails, using antivirus software, installing necessary software updates, and backing up your data are just simple steps that could keep you safe from cyberattacks and cybercrimes.
All these steps can make you more cyber secure. With the right security habits, you, your files, and even your company will be safe from cybercriminals. Always make sure that you also report any suspicious activity to your company as well if ever you encounter them at home.
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- HackerNews
- Evernote
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- Mail.ru
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- Yummly
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- Skype
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