Ensuring cybersecurity when working from home is crucial today. Especially that most of us are pushed to work from our homes due to the pandemic. Thus, millions of people are away from their office’s secure networks. How, then, can you ensure cybersecurity from home? Let us see in this article.
Ensuring Cybersecurity When Working From Home
Use Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)
VPNs are the perfect tool for ensuring cybersecurity when working from home. With VPNs, you can connect to the business network remotely as if you are at work. In addition, VPNs encrypt all your data on both ends. Thus, they are highly recommended if you want to ensure cybersecurity when working from home.
Install Personal Firewalls and Anti-Virus Software
You should always install personal firewalls and anti-virus software on your devices when working from home. To be specific, you should install personal firewalls and anti-virus software on all of your devices. This should include your desktop computers, laptops, smartphones, and tablets.
Make Strong Passwords
Strong passwords are the primary factor in ensuring cybersecurity when working from home. You should make sure that your passwords are at least 12 characters long, using at least one upper case letter, a number, and a symbol. You should also change your passwords every three months to ensure that they do not fall into the wrong hands.
Put Up Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Multi-factor authentication is another crucial measure to take when ensuring cybersecurity. It is a type of security measure that requires more than one method to verify your identity. Thus, it makes it harder for criminals to gain unauthorized access to your account.
One example of an MFA is Google’s 2-Step Verification. With 2-Step Verification, you will have to enter your password as well as a token code that is automatically sent to your phone.
Do Not Use Public Wi-Fi
You should always avoid using public Wifi when working from home. This is because most public Wi-Fis are not secure and can easily be hacked by cybercriminals. In addition, public Wifi may be used by cybercriminals to install malware on your devices or steal sensitive information from your devices. So, only use your trusted network.
Do Not Use Your Company Device for Personal Use
Lastly, do not use your company device for personal use or vice versa. Why? Because doing so will put your company data at risk. You can easily install malware or leak your company’s sensitive data if you use your company device for personal use.
Further, your personal device might not have the same protection your work device has. So, using your personal device for work can result in compromised data and more.
Ensure Cybersecurity When Working From Home
The most important thing to keep in mind when ensuring cybersecurity when working from home is to always be cautious. This means you should always follow the best practices for ensuring cybersecurity when working from home. Doing so will help you protect sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands. It will also protect you from cybercriminals who are trying hard to steal your identity and money.
