Keep Secure While Working From Home

How to Keep Your Remote Workers Secure While Working From Home

Security is the top concern of businesses all across the country, but many were struggling to get their security systems up to date before the pandemic hit.

To make matters worse, while we intended a remote workforce to be a temporary solution, it has become the new normal. Having such a large remote workforce for an extended time exposes companies to vicious cyber-attacks.

For now, enhancing security measures fall onto every employee. They need to build habits that keep your workplace secure while everyone works remotely.

Stay Cyber Secure When Working Remotely

When at work, most employees are on top of cybersecurity. At home, those habits can change. Employees should take these steps to stay secure when working from home:

• Use a secure connection to connect to the company’s network.
• Never connect to the company network on an unsecured WiFi network
• Don’t share work data between your home computer and your mobile device.
• Only use company-approved cloud applications for storing and sharing information.
• Never keep documents with sensitive information at home.
• Use communications applications that come with built-in end-to-end encryption.
• Don’t open emails from addresses you don’t recognize.
• When you shop online, look for the “https” in the URL to make sure the site (and your personal information) is secure.

Keep Your Home Computer Secure

An employee’s personal computer serves as a gateway to your company’s network. Help your employees with these five tips to make sure all communications between your employees and your system stay safe and secure.

• Make sure your computer’s operating system, applications, and all other software are up to date with the latest security patches.
• Install a firewall in your home and use a secure WiFi connection.
• Set up antivirus software to scan websites you visit, files you download, and any content stored on all of your data storage drives.
• Create new, strong passwords for your laptop, company-issued mobile device, and email.
• Never open emails or click on attachments from people you don’t know.

Keep Your Mobile Device Secure

We keep our entire lives on our mobile devices, which makes them enticing targets for cybercriminals. Teach your employees these seven tips to keep their mobile devices safe from attacks.

• Keep Bluetooth auto discovery turned off.
• Disable WiFi auto-connect.
• Use biometric authentication, such as fingerprints and visual authentication.
• Set up two-factor authentication on every service that allows for it.
• Update every app to its latest version.
• Never respond to unsolicited texts from people you don’t know.
• Only give your apps the minimum access required to operate.

Teach Your Employees to Follow Best Cyber Security Practices Everywhere They Go.

Cybercriminals can target you and your employees at any time or place. Whether you’re at home or at a coffee shop (as they start to open back up), you need to stay on your guard to make sure your entire digital life is secure.

Follow each step above to ensure that you, and your workplace, stay safe and secure from cyber threats. Always remember, you and your employees are your company’s first line of defense against cyber attacks.