Cyber Security tips for working from home
Note that before you take your own measures to protect your online security, you should check in with your employer to see if they have any protocols in place. In light of the COVID-19 crisis, many companies are hasilty putting together work-from-home plans. They may be able to provide you with specific directions on how to handle certain aspects of cybersecurity and perhaps provide access to some of the tools you need.
Thankfully, even if your employer doesn’t offer such protocols, or if you are self-employed, there are some simple steps you can take to protect yourself while working from home:
1. Use strong passwords
It’s as important as ever to ensure that all accounts are protected with strong passwords. Unfortunately, many people still use the same password across multiple accounts. This means that all it takes is one compromised password for a criminal to take over all of your accounts. They take leaked usernames and passwords and attempt to log into other online accounts, a tactic called credential stuffing.
Passwords should be unique for every account and should comprise a long string of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters. Clearly, it’s difficult to remember all these passwords, which is why password managers are such popular tools these days.
2. Set up two-factor authentication
Having a strong password often isn’t enough, for example, if your credentials are leaked in a data breach. Two-factor authentication (2FA) and two-step verification (2SV) involve an additional step to add an extra layer of protection to your accounts.
3. Use a VPN
Many people are familiar with using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to bypass geographic restrictions on streaming sites and other location-specific content. Indeed, since a VPN tunnels your traffic through a server in the location of your choice, it’s ideal for location spoofing.
But a VPN has another important role, and that’s improving your online privacy. A VPN encrypts all of your internet traffic, so that it is unreadable to anyone who intercepts it. This keeps it away from the prying eyes of any snoopers, including your Internet Service Provider (ISP), government agencies, or hackers.
4. Set up firewalls
Firewalls act as a line defense to prevent threats entering your system, They create a barrier between your device and the internet by closing ports to communication. This can help prevent malicious programs from entering and can stop data leaking from your device.
Your device’s operating system will typically have a built-in firewall. In addition hardware firewalls are built into many routers. Just make sure that yours are enabled.
5. Use an antivirus software
Although a firewall can help, it’s inevitable that threats can get through. Good antivirus software can act as the next line of defence by detecting and blocking known malware.
Even if malware does manage to find its way onto your device, an antivirus may be able to detect and in some cases remove it.
6. Secure your home router
Do you know if you changed your router password when it was first installed? Many people didn’t, leaving their home network vulnerable. It’s important to take simple steps to protect your home network to prevent malicious parties from having access to connected devices.
Changing your router password is a good first step, but there are other actions you can take. For example, you should make sure firmware updates are installed so that security vulnerabilities can be patched. The encryption should be set to WPA2 or WPA3. Restrict inbound and outbound traffic, use the highest level of encryption available, and switch off WPS.
7. Install updates regularly
Updates to device software and other applications can be a source of annoyance. But they really are important. Updates often include patches for security vulnerabilities that have been uncovered since the last iteration of the software was released.
In many cases, you can set updates to run automatically, often while you’re sleeping, so you don’t have to worry about downtime.
8. Back up your data
Data can be lost in a number of ways, including human error, physical damage to hardware, or a cyberattack. Ransomware and other types of malware can wipe entire systems without you having a chance to spot it
Clearly, there are plenty of reasons to keep your data backed up. While hardware backups are still an option, one of the most convenient and cost-effective ways to store your data is in the cloud. Cloud backup services come with a wealth of options enabling you to customize your backup schedule and storage options.
9. Look out for phishing emails and sites
Phishing emails, as well as voicemails (vishing) and text messages (smishing) are used by cybercriminals to “phish” for information. This information is usually used in further schemes such as spear phishing campaigns (targeted phishing attacks), credit card fraud, and account takeover fraud.
With the rise in the number of people working from home due to the coronavirus outbreak, no doubt there will be plenty of cybercriminals looking to cash in on the trend. It’s highly likely that phishing emails will target remote workers in a bid to steal their personal information or gain access to company accounts.
To spot a phishing email, check the sender’s email address for spelling errors and look for poor grammar in the subject line and email body. Hover over links to see the URL and don’t click links or attachments unless you trust the sender 100 percent. If in any doubt, contact the alleged sender using a phone number or email address that you find somewhere other than in the suspicious email.
If you do click a link and end up on a legitimate-looking site, be sure to check its credibility before entering any information. Common signs of a phishing site include lack of an HTTPS padlock symbol (although phishing sites increasingly have SSL certificates), misspelled domain names, poor spelling and grammar, lack of an “about” page, and missing contact information.
10. Watch out for work-from-home scams
As well as targeted phishing attacks, we’re likely to see an increase in work-from-home scams and other schemes that typically target gig economy workers. Many of these request personal information or upfront payments before you can begin work. By the time you realize it’s a scam, the fraudster has ceased contact and stolen your money or taken over accounts.
If you’re looking for freelance work, use reputable sites that offer protection to both clients and freelancers such as Upwork and Freelancer. Never share personal information with a client that you haven’t thoroughly researched. And don’t work with anyone who requests an upfront fee.
Also, be on the lookout for pyramid and multi-level-marketing (MLM) scams as these are often well-disguised as legitimate and attractive work-from-home opportunities.
11. Use encrypted communications
Of course, there are times when you need to communicate with fellow workers, and it’s common for those emails to include sensitive information. If your company doesn’t already provide you with secure methods of communication, you may have to come up with your own options.