How to Work Safely from Home? – An introduction
Due to the 3rd Wave of the COVID-19 pandemic—the first wave of which hit us in the end of 2019, more than 18 months ago—striking many nations, with massive consequences ensuing including lockdowns in many places, the work from home (WFH) phenomenon is oscillating between continuation and discarding.
While some companies are finding the blessing within the challenge, witnessing the increase in productivity brought about by WFH and espousing it as the new normal, others have had enough, finding it not sustainable and trying to find ways to bring their people back to the office.
Facebook—as an example of the former—recently allowed its employees to continue WFH, even after the Covid pandemic clears off, while Google, on the other hand, has issued a schedule for bringing people back to work from their offices. Other entities are testing “hybrid” arrangements, mixing up on-premises with remote work.
The Trouble with Working from Home
However, WFH does bring its share of problems, not least among which is security. People using personal devices to log in to work networks, others using work devices for their personal browsing, as well as heavy reliance on home Wifi networks have all colluded in creating great security risks.
Since it seems that WFH is likely to become a persistent scenario in many places, we find it useful to remind everyone out there how to make their WFH—whether it is transient or persistent—as safe as it can be.
We give you this series of articles discussing the ways you can make your WFH safe from attack.
The Lynchpin of Cybersecurity
Internet humor and nerd culture have brought us the quaint acronym: PEBCAK – Problem Exists Between Chair and Keyboard. This harsh wisdom applies most accurately to security; while there are safeguards, solutions, and tools designed to keep us safe, ultimately the weakest link in the security chain is… we humans.
As such, the best way to ensure employee and business security is to train ourselves to adopt best practices that reduce risks.
Best Practices for Prevention of Cyberattacks
Below are some quick take-home precautions that could reduce the risk of cyberattacks while you work from home.
As with many business endeavors, experts have developed best practices that should help us stay safe, and especially in these troubling times. We recommend the following:
- Always make sure you have installed the latest updates for all software you use
- Make sure your antivirus is running and up to date
- NEVER install cracked software as it could contain malicious code
- Regularly back up your data on an external storage drive to avoid data loss
- Always use 2-factor authentication through your phone or otherwise
- Use a VPN to access your company’s resources to ensure a secure connection
- Try to avoid using a high-privilege account (admins or superusers) unless you absolutely have to
We hope these articles help you stay safe and productive in this already stressful time. If you have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to reach out to us in the comments or on our social media pages.