How to Be Cyber-Safe While Working From Home
Cyber safety is the most crucial security goal of the work-from-home lifestyle. Breach of data often leads to loss of financial data and sensitive information like intellectual property. Additionally, a company’s reputation is at risk as clients lose trust in them. Cybersecurity best measures aim at digital asset protection. This involves maintaining confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data. Read on to identify five main ways of maintaining cyber-safety while you work from home.
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Virtual Private Network (VPN)
Cybersecurity is vital for secure data transactions and storage in the contemporary world. VPN protects your browsing data by making it difficult to trace back to you. It builds an encrypted tunnel between your data traffic and anyone trying to spy on you. Besides shielding your location, VPNs afford you online anonymity by changing your Internet Protocol (IP) address. It is especially important when using public Wi-Fi networks. Any transactions over public networks are insecure since your pins and passwords can get hacked. Often, companies have their own VPN. Alternatively, you can download Encrypted scrambling applications.
Strong Passwords and Password Management Tools
An eight-character password with symbols, letters, and numbers has over 200 billion combinations. Every extra character in your password makes it more difficult to crack. Passwords with at least 16 characters are even better. Do not repeat or reuse the same password for all of your credentials. Rather, change them regularly to randomly generated passwords. Always use password management tools to keep track of these passwords. These tools encrypt and store your passwords.
Turn on Default Security Settings in Your System
Most modern operating systems’ default security is advanced enough to detect and delete malware. It is inbuilt with a holistic approach to security, of prevention rather than cure. It consists of protective firewalls that scan all incoming data traffic requests. They protect you by blocking any unnecessary traffic on your server. Also, they block any malicious software from accessing your device or network via the internet. Therefore, turning them off leaves your electronic devices vulnerable to external cyberattacks.
Avoid Phishing
Phishing is a web attack designed to make you reveal sensitive information. Attackers use this information to compromise your monetary and information fund. Research shows that within the first six months of 2019, data violations leaked over four billion records. However, this is avoidable by using secure email and webpage practices.
Secure Email Practices
Email is the most common way of conducting a phishing attack. Besides attacking technology, phishing toys with psychology. Do not open unknown attachments. Also, check summaries of emails for executable attachments. If these look suspicious, report them to the IT team for review. All employees should be educated the same.
Secure Webpage Browsing
Refrain from accessing suspicious website pages on the internet, as these predispose you to attackers. Phishing pages are similar to the original, down to the information and graphics. However, there are slight differences, such as misspelled website addresses. Additionally, check that you are accessing an ‘HTTPS’ page. The ‘S’ shows that the address is secure, as it is encrypted with the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol.
Use Secure Operating Software
Download software from the original source only, as third-party sources may contain bugs. These include viruses that will compromise the security of your computer. To ensure data integrity, verify the file with the checksum provided. Websites provide software hash values. These are digital fingerprints used to confirm that the downloaded files are genuine. Use the latest Operating Software (OS) with updated licenses. Updating the OS patches up any security breach. This is such that a hacker cannot access your device through that vulnerability. Better yet, turn on automated updating for all your devices.
Cyber safety requires that you take an active approach while working from home. Utilize these tips to protect yourself and your company.
