With social distancing measures becoming the norm, most employees are working remotely to get their job done. Working from home gives you unprecedented freedom and flexibility. However, setting your home computer for office work brings its own set of challenges.
You must configure all the tools they typically use in the office and work amongst a ton of distractions to continue your normal flow of work. The greatest challenge, however, comes with security issues.
Working from home takes you outside the protected corporate network. Even if your organization provides VPN access, your machine, and all the data on it can get compromised. A malicious user on your public hotspot or the Wi-Fi network you’re connected to can easily infiltrate your machine suing those shared networks.
To help employees ensure the safety and integrity of their organization’s information, we list down 4 tips to ensure data security in your home office.
Invest In Antivirus Software
First of all, it’s important to invest in reliable antivirus software. Although an antivirus solution does not guarantee the security of your company’s files, it makes it considerably difficult for hackers to infiltrate your machine. Your company-issued device may already have antivirus software, but if you have a personal laptop, you need to install antivirus software on your own.
Don’t Allow Anyone to Use Your Work Devices
The problem with many remote workers is that they let their family members or children use company devices. They forget that the computer assigned by the company is for employee use only, not the family computer.
Employees should treat their work-issued mobile device, sensitive data, or laptop as if they were sitting in a physical office location. Having this mindset will help you continuously associate your actions with a data-aware and security-first approach. For instance, treating your home office as a physical office location will also discourage family members from using these devices for movies or games.
Use Strong Passwords
A weak password is an inherent security flaw and can compromise the strongest security systems. This is why maintaining a strong password needs to an essential part of ensuring security in your home office.
Instead of using the password for all your login credentials, it’s recommended to set up a different password for each account you log into. It should be noted that each password set up for your account must be at least 10 characters long.
Besides that, the password must contain a mix of the upper and lower case alphanumeric characters, as well as special characters. To protect the passwords from being compromised, it’s best to change them periodically after 2 to 4 months.
Keep Physical Workspace Secure
Although virtual security is essential, it’s also necessary to ensure physical security in your home office. Aside from virtual confidential data, home offices have expensive equipment and physical documents vital for the company.
While it’s not possible to deploy the same level of security in your home office as your office building, you should implement whatever traditional physical security measure you can.
A home office system can be exposed to a collection of cyber risks if the system is not configured with proper security measures. Nevertheless, by following these tips you can improve the security in your home office and ensure data integrity.