The global coronavirus pandemic has abruptly changed the way we work. Many people around the world have been forced to work remotely from their homes. While telecommuting has its perks, it might have just put targets on the backs of employees, their employers, and their homes.
You have probably never had to worry about online safety while at the workplace, thanks to your company’s IT department. Now it is your responsibility. Here you can find some ways to ensure your safety while navigating from home.
Choose the safest video-conferencing tool
A couple of months ago, while everyone was grappling with telecommuting, one app came to the rescue, Zoom. The app, which runs on Windows, macOS, and Android, saw a spike in the number of active users from 10 to 200 million in just three months.
The app’s exponential growth attracted scrutiny, and a host of security and privacy issues were later discovered. Some of these flaws were the lack of end-to-end encryption, which made it possible for third parties to access user data, bugs that allowed users passwords, data, and emails to be stolen, and the hijacking of meetings popularly known as Zoombombing.
While the company issued software updates to fix these security vulnerabilities, the damage had already been done, and companies like SpaceX had already banned the app. If the security updates still aren’t convincing enough to you, you might want to look at alternatives like Slack, Skype, Google Meet, or Cisco Webex.
Update your Operating system
For Windows users, update reminders can get on your nerves sometimes. Furthermore, updates might take forever to complete installing, so you might find yourself skipping installations or turning updates off altogether. While this could give you peace of mind, your computer might be open to vulnerabilities that an update could have prevented.
Securing your connection
Most companies provide their employees with corporate computers that come with preinstalled VPN software. VPN software help protect your network from cybercriminals and prying eyes by scrambling data sent over the network.
The data could be company financial information, Research, and Development information or any other private information. If you are working on a personal computer, you can get a trusted VPN service here to secure your data.
Encrypt your wireless network
A password-protected Wi-Fi is not enough to guarantee your online safety. You should ensure that your router is switched to the WPA2 standard, which prompts new devices to provide a password to connect to the network.
The strength of your encryption is dependent on how strong your password is. You can learn here about setting a strong password that you can easily remember. Make it a habit to regularly change your Wi-Fi passwords and review the connected devices.
You should keep your router’s firmware up to date if it doesn’t have automatic updates. Updates mainly include security patches that hackers could otherwise use to gain access to your network.
Working from home might expose individuals and company data to risks. Adhering to your company rules, and these tips might go a long way in saving you some trouble.
The Safety Blog Culture 